r 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


REESE  LIBRARY 


; n — n — n, 


Deceived 
Accession  Mo. 


<$>  3  -      la&s  No. 


' 


COMMERCIAL  VIOLET  CULTURE. 


COMMERCIAL 


VIOLET  CULTURE 


A  Treatise  on  the  Growing  and  Marketing 
of  Violets  for  Profit* 


BY 

B.  T.  GALLOWAY, 

Chief  of  the  Division  of  Vegetable  Physiology  and  Pathology, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 


NEW  YORK. 

A.  T.  DE  LA  MARE  PTG.  &  PUB.  CO.  Ltd. 
J899. 


V  1 


Copyright. 

Entered  According  to  Act  of  Congress 

in  the  Year  1899 

By  A.  T.  De  La  Mare  Printing  and  Publishing  Co.  Ltd. 
New  York. 

Z3 


All  Eights  Reserved. 


PREFACE. 


Violet  growing  as  a  business  has  not  received  the 
attention  given  to  some  other  crops.  This  is  prob- 
ably due  to  the  fact  that  the  violet  as  generally 
grown  is  less  profitable  than  the  rose,  carnation,  or 
even  the  chrysanthemum.  More  people  have  em- 
barked in  this  business  and  failed  than  is  the  case 
with  any  other  crop,  and  for  this  reason  we  believe 
that  it  is  one  of  the  most  promising  fields  for  the 
young,  energetic,  and  intelligent  man  to  enter.  Who- 
ever enters  it,  however,  must  recognize  at  the  start 
that  there  are  many  difficulties,  and  that  to  be  suc- 
cessful means  much  labor,  patience,  and  determina- 
tion to  overcome  all  obstacles.  The  knowledge 
necessary  to  succeed  can  come  only  through  expe- 
rience. Reading  will  help,  but  without  the  ability 
to  apply  what  is  learned  by  reading  little  progress 
can  be  made.  We  have  gone  over  this  ground 
pretty  thoroughly,  and  in  looking  back  can  see  that 
our  experience  in  many  cases  was  dearly  bought. 
To  save  others  from  making  mistakes  that  fell  to  our 
lot  we  have  in  some  instances  made  statements 
which  might  be  considered  as  dogmatic.  We  have 
done  this  for  the  reason  that  we  were  many  times 
led  away  by  general  statements,  which,  had  they 


been  specific  would  have  saved  us  much  time  and 
money.  We  have  endeavored  to  give  every  neces- 
sary detail  for  handling  the  soil,  erection  of  houses 
and  frames,  the  management  of  the  plants,  and 
marketing  of  the  flowers,  and  finally  we  have  shown 
what  it  costs  to  grow  a  violet  plant,  what  such  a 
plant  under  fair  conditions  should  yield,  and  what  in 
our  experience  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  fair  profit. 

From  the  facts  given  it  will  be  seen  that  no  big 
fortunes  are  to  be  made  in  violet  growing,  but  if  a 
man  loves  Nature  and  that  quiet  and  peace  which 
work  with  her  should  always  bring,  there  is  a 
chance  here  to  open  her  doors.  Thus  a  love  for  all 
that  is  good  and  beautiful  may  be  cultivated  and  a 
respectable  living  made  at  the  same  time. 

I  wish  to  express  my  thanks  to  Mr.  P.  H.  Dorsett, 
who  shared  with  me  all  the  trials  and  vexations 
which  fall  to  the  lot  of  beginners  in  this  work. 
He  is  now  a  successful  grower  and  many  of  the 
illustrations  given  are  from  his  houses. 


B.  T.  GALLOWAY. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

July  ist,  1899. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Page 

Introduction 17 

Single  Varieties 17 

Russian  Violet .  .  .  17 

Welsiana 17 

Luxonne 18 

California,  or  Madame  E.  Arene 18 

Princess  of  Wales,  or  Princesse  de  Galles  .  .  .  18 

Double  Varieties 19 

Neapolitan  ....  .  .  .•  .  .......  19 

Lady  Hume  Campbell ;  ....  19 

Marie  Louise  ....  19 

Farquhar  and  Imperial 20 

Origin  and  Introduction  of  Varieties 20 

Culture,  Past  and  Present 25 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Soil V  .  \   '......  30 

CHAPTER  III. 

Construction  of  Houses  and  Frames 43 

Construction  of  Houses 43 

Construction  of  Frames 77 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Water  Supply 88 


CHAPTER  V. 

Page 

Propagating,  Selecting,  Planting,  Cleaning,  Watering, 

etc 92 

Propagating 92 

Selection  of  Stock  for  Vigor  and  Productiveness  .    .109 

Planting 116 

Cleaning,     Watering,     Syringing,    Mulching,    and 
Feeding . ... 124 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Temperature  Conditions  and  Ventilation 130 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Handling  and  Marketing  the  Crop 140 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Diseases  and  Insect  Enemies 159 

Diseases  and  their  Treatment 159 

Spot,  or  Spot  Disease 161 

Wilt,  or  Stem  Rot 1 70 

Nanism,  or  Stuntedness 174 

Scald,  or  Edge  Burn 178 

Oedema,  or  Wart  Disease 182 

Crown  Rot    . 185 

Root  Galls,  or  Nematodes 187 

Insects  and  Other  Pests  ............  190 

Red  Spider 190 

Green  and  Brown  Aphides 198 

Cut  Worms .   ...  ...  208 

Sawfly ......       .    .        .  210 

Gall  Fly  Maggots  .../... 211 

Phlyctcenia  ferrugalis 214 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Cost  of  Production  and  Profits  .216 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 
FRONTISPIECE. 

1.  Type  of  Single  Violet    .       21 

2.  Type  of  Double  Violet 23 

3.  Characteristic    Growth  of    California  and   Marie 

Louise  Compared 24 

4.  Mixing  Soil.     Spreading   Manure   in    Layers  Be- 

tween the  Soil  . 36 

5.  Mixing  Soil.     Breaking  and  Pulverizing  the  Sod 

Preparatory  to  Putting  it  down  with  Layers  of 
Manure 37 

6.  Sash  House  with  Sash  off.  .       44 

7.  House  twelve  feet  wide,  six  feet  to  Ridge;  side 

ventilators  of  glass 45 

8.  Type  of  Even  Span  House,  twelve  feet  wide,  show- 

ing Method  of  Running  Heating  Pipes  and 
Constructing  Beds 46 

9.  Type  of  Even  Span  House,  twelve  feet  wide,  with 

two  deep  walks,  showing  Heating  Pipes  and 
Method  of  Constructing  Beds,  Roofs,  and  Ends  48 

10.  Shed  at  North  End  of  Houses,  showing  Method  of 

Construction 49 

u.     Interior  of  Shed  shown  in  fig.  10 50 

12.  Roofs  of  Twelve  Foot  Houses,  showing  Method  of 

Construction  and  of  Attaching  Ventilators    .    .    51 

13.  A  Twelve  Foot  House,  showing  Method  of  Con- 

structing and  Attaching  Side  Ventilators   ...    54 

14.  Fastening  Pipes  to  Posts  by  Tin  Clips 57 

15.  Fastening  Pipes  to  Posts  by  Bent  Wire  Nails  .    .    .    5 


Page 
1.6.     Interior  of  Twelve  Foot  House,  showing  Method 

of  Constructing  South  End  and  Door 58 

17.  Interior  of  House,  showing  Method  of  Connecting 

Flow  Pipe  with  Four  Returns 59 

18.  Ridge  and  Furrow  House  Construction.     Method 

of  Making  Gutter  and  Attaching  Sash  Bar     .    .    60 

19.  Interior  Construction.     Method  of  Connecting  Re- 

turns at  North  End  of  House 61 

20.  Construction  of  Single  House.     Method  of  Making 

Gutter,  Attaching  Sash  Bar,  and  Fitting  Side 
Ventilators 62 

21.  Method  of  Splicing  Ridge 64 

22.  House  twenty-four  feet  wide 65 

23.  Constructing  House  twenty-four"feet  wide;  Second 

Step,  Making  Beds  and  Walks 66 

24.  Constructing  House  twenty-four  feet  wide;  Third 

Step,    Running   Gutters   and  Notching    Plate 
around   Posts 67 

25.  Construction.     Putting  Up  the  Roof 72 

26.  Temporary  House 76 

27.  Simple  Cold  Frame 78 

28.  Violets  in  Frame,  Covered  with  Lath  Screen   ...    80 

29.  Violets    in    Heated    Frames,    Shaded  by   Rough 

Boards 82 

30.  Violets  in  Heated  Frames.     Summer  Shading  by 

Boards 84 

31.  Cuttings  with  Hard,   Wiry  Roots,  from  Divided 

Crowns 93 

32.  Various  Kinds  of  Cuttings  from  a  Divided  Crown  .    94 

33.  Common  Form  of  Cutting  from  Divided  Crown  .    .    96 

34.  Lath  Box,  or  Flat,  for  Rooted  Cuttings 98 

35.  Sand-Rooted   Cuttings,  Ready  to   Plant  in   Flats 

Filled  with  Soil 102 

36.  Sand-Rooted  Cuttings,  Ideal  Type,  Ready  to  Put 

in  Soil .    .  104 


Page 

37.  Pedigree  Plant,  with  Tag  showing  Dates  of  Pick- 

ing and  Yield  of  Flowers no 

38.  Bed  of  Pedigree  Plants 112 

39.  Violet  Culture  Under  Lath  Sheds  in  California  .    .120 

40.  Field  Culture  of  Violets  in  Virginia 122 

41.  Violets  bunched  for  Philadelphia  market;   some  of 

the  flowers  projecting  from  the  bunch 142 

42.  Violets   bunched  for   Washington    market,  using 

Princess  of  Wales  leaves 144 

43.  Picking  Violets 15° 

44.  Leaves  of  California  Violet  Wired  Together  for 

Bunching  Flowers 152 

45.  Leatherette  Shipping  Box,  Open 154 

46.  Shipping  Box,  showing  Wire  Screen  for  Holding 

Bunches 155 

47.  Shipping  Box,  Closed  and  Strapped        .    .    .    .    .    .156 

48.  Spot  Disease— Early  Effects 162 

49.  Spot  Disease  on  Hardy  English  Violets.  .        ...  164 

50.  Spot  Disease  Artificially  Produced 166 

51.  Rooted  Campbell   Cuttings,    showing   Effects    of 

Thielavia  on  the  roots 171 

52.  Plants  Stunted  by  Strong  Fertilizer 175 

53.  Edge  Burn,  brought  on  by  Cold  Soil 178 

54.  Leaves  and  Flowers  Injured  by  Botrytis 180 

55.  Oedema,  or  Wart  Disease .    .  183 

56.  Crown  Rot 185 

57.  Nematodes,  or  Root  Galls 188 

58.  Nozzle  Used  in  Spraying  Plants  for  the  Destruc- 

tion of  Red  Spider 192 

59.  Method  of  Determining  Cubic  Contents  of  Houses  204 

60.  Injuries  to  Violet  Leaves  by  Gall  Fly  Maggot     .    .  212 

61.  Larvae  and  Moths  of  Phlycttznia  ferrngalts  .    .    .214 


COMMERCIAL  VIOLET  CULTURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The  sweet  violet,  Viola  odorata,  from 
which  our  cultivated  forms  have  doubtless  arisen, 
is  widely  distributed  over  Europe  and  Asia,  but 
is  not  found  native  in  America.  The  violet  has 
been  cultivated  from  remote  times,  first  probably 
as  a  medicinal  plant,  but  later  to  satisfy  a  love  for 
the  beautiful.  Following  are  some  of  the  more 
important  forms  now  grown: 

SINGLE  VARIETIES. 

Russian  violet.  Very  hardy  and  free  flower- 
ing ;  flowers  medium  violet*  in  color,  fairly  good 
size. 

Welsiana*     Plant    much     branched;    foliage 

*In  referring  to  the  colors  of  violets  we  have  used  Ridgway's 
Nomenclature  of  Colors,  published  by  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 
The  principal  colors  are  the  true  violet,  as  will  be  found  in  Princess 
of  Wales,  and  the  various  shades  of  mauve.  Mauves  are  a  mixture 
of  white  with  violet.  The  mauves  therefore  may  be  dark  or  light, 
depending  upon  the  amount  of  white  present.  Marie  Louise  is  a  true 
mauve;  Campbell  a  light  mauve. 
t\s 


l8  INTRODUCTION. 

rather  soft,  light  green;  flowers  large,  on  long 
stalks;  color  true  violet;  a  valuable  variety,  but 
not  so  amenable  to  culture  as  some  others. 

Luxonne*  A  valuable  variety,  with  large 
flowers  of  a  dark  violet  color;  foliage  stronger 
in  texture  and  of  a  richer  green  than  the  ordinary 
Russian  violet ;  flowers  from  September  to 
spring. 

California,  or  Madame  E.  Arenc.  We  use  the 
name  California  because  it  has  become  so  well 
established  that  it  is  not  practicable  at  this- 
time  to  change  it.  This  violet  is  unquestionably 
one  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  single  sorts. 
The  plant  grows  like  a  weed  and  flowers  pretty 
regularly  throughout  the  entire  winter;  foliage 
soft  and  lightish  green  in  color;  flowers  large, 
light  violet  in  color,  with  stems  sometimes  eight 
inches  to  a  foot  in  length. 

Princess  of  Wales,  or  Princesse  de  Galles.  All 
things  considered,  this  is  the  best  single  violet 
that  has  come  to  our  attention.  The  plant  is 
very  vigorous  and  has  the  compact  habit  of 
growth  of  the  double  sorts;  leaves  dark  rich 
green,  of  firm  texture,  making  them  very  valu- 
able for  bunching ;  flowers  large,  of  a  true  rich 
violet  color,  and  borne  on  long,  strong  stems. 
There  are  single  violets  white,  yellow,  and  pink 
in  color,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  any  details 
in  regard  to  them,  for  the  reason  that  there  is 
practically  no  commercial  demand  for  them. 


VARIETIES.  19 

DOUBLE  VARIETIES. 

Neapolitan*  One  of  the  oldest  of  the  double 
sorts  and  doubtless  the  parent  of  a  number  of  our 
most  valuable  varieties;  growth  compact;  leaves 
rather  small ;  flowers  pushing  up  straight  through 
the  crown,  borne  on  strong,  straight  stems ;  color 
very  light  mauve  (commonly  called  light  laven- 
der) ;  hardy  and  comparatively  free  flowering ; 
blooms  from  September  to  spring. 

Lady  Hume  Campbell.  More  vigorous  than 
the  last,  with  larger  leaves  and  flowers;  the 
flowers  push  up  through  the  crown  and  stand 
above  the  leaves  on  straight,  strong  stems ;  color 
of  the  flowers,  when  properly  grown,  a  mauve, 
several  shades  lighter  than  Marie  Louise ;  flowers 
freely  and  continuously  from  September  to  May 
and  is  comparatively  free  from  disease. 

Marie  Louise*  The  most  widely  cultivated 
violet  in  this  country,  and  the  one  for  which  there 
is  the  greatest  demand.  This  violet  is  not  so  vigor- 
ous as  the  last  and  is  therefore  more  subject  to  the 
attacks  of  a  number  of  diseases;  the  leaves  are 
large,  of  a  rich  green  color,  but  inclined  to  be  soft ; 
the  flowers  push  out  from  the  sides  of  the  crown 
and  are  usually  found  resting  on  the  ground; 
flower  stalks  not  so  straight  as  Campbell,  making 
the  flowers  more  difficult  to  bunch;  color  of 
flowers  true  mauve ;  base  of  petals  white,  splotched 
with  red.  The  red  marks  are  very  characteristic 
of  this  variety  and  never  occur,  so  far  as  we 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

are  aware,  in  any  except  closely  related  strains. 

Farquhar  and  Imperial*  Both  of  these  forms, 
so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  determine,  are 
merely  vigorous  strains  of  Marie  Louise. 

Of  other  double  varieties  there  may  be  men- 
tioned Swanley  White  (pure  white)  and  Madam 
Millet  (pink).  Both  of  these  are  occasionally 
grown,  but  there  is  no  great  demand  for  them 
anywhere. 

ORIGIN  AND  INTRODUCTION  OF  VARIETIES. 

Single  violets  in  this  country  are  as  yet  in 
comparatively  little  demand,  and  for  this  reason 
Marie  Louise  and  Campbell  are  the  principal 
varieties  grown.  There  seems  to  be  a  growing 
interest  in  singles,  however,  and  on  this  account 
and  furthermore  for  the  reason  that  the  leaves  are 
exceedingly  useful  in  bunching,  it  would  be  well 
for  every  grower  to  devote  a  part  of  his  space  to 
some  vigorous-growing  kind  like  California  or 
Princess  of  Wales.  Six  or  seven  hundred  plants 
of  either  of  these  varieties  will,  with  good  culti- 
vation, give  sufficient  leaves  for  bunching  the 
.flowers  from  eight  thousand  Campbell  or  Louise. 
In  this  way  the  foliage  of  the  Campbell  and 
Louise  is  left  to  support  the  flowers — a  great  advan- 
tage in  many  ways.  The  California  and  Princess 
of  Wales,  furthermore,  will  yield  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  flowers  to  well  pay  for  the  space  devoted  to 
them,  so  that  altogether  it  is  an  advantage  to 
have  them. 


ORIGIN  AND  INTRODUCTION  OF  VARIETIES.  21 


1. — Type  ot  single    violet  (Princess  of  Wales),  reduced 
one- third. 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  as-  to  the 
origin  of  the  Marie  Louise  and  Campbell  violets. 
The  Marie  Louise  has  been  known  under  various 
names  in  France  and  Germany  for  sixty  or 
seventy  years.  It  was  introduced  into  this 
country  in  1871  by  Mr.  John  Cook,  of  Baltimore. 
Mr.  Cook  obtained  the  stock  through  Schuer,  of 
Heidelberg,  Germany,  who  advertised  it  as  the 
best  violet  belonging  to  the  Parma  class.  After 
growing  it  for  two  years  Mr.  Cook  sold  large 
quantities  of  his  stock  to  Peter  Henderson  and 
John  Henderson,  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  Dreer,  of 
Philadelphia.  The  flowers  created  a  sensation 
and  the  plants  in  consequence  were  in  great 
demand. 

We  find  a  record  of  the  Lady  Hume  Camp- 
bell violet  as  far  back  as  1884  in  the  Gardeners' 
Chronicle,  of  London,  England.  It  is  said  here 
that  the  variety  had  been  seen  growing  in  the 
gardens  of  Harefield  Court,  Rickmansworth,  and 
that  it  was  exceedingly  vigorous.  It  was  re- 
garded as  a  vigorous  strain  of  Neapolitan.  It  is 
stated  further  that  the  variety  had  been  brought 
from  abroad  several  years  before  by  Lady  Hume 
Campbell,  and  planted  in  her  gardens  at  High- 
grove,  Waltford.  Soon  after  it  was  noticed  at 
Lady  Campbell's  place  by  a  Mr.  Turner,  who 
bought  the  stock  and  presumably  put  it  on  the 
market.  It  was  imported  in  1892  by  Mr.  H. 
Heubner,  of  Groton,  Massachusetts,  who  obtained 


**  OF   THE  r 

UNIVERSITY 


ORIGIN  AND  INTRODUCTION  OF  VARIETIES. 


2.— Type  of  double  violet  (Marie Louise), reduced  one-third. 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

his  stock  from  Beachy,  in  Devonshire,  England. 
Mr.  Heubner  informs  the  writer  that  he  im- 
ported the  so-called  "  De  Parme"  at  the  same 
time  and  he  considers  it  to  be  in  every  way 
identical  with  Campbell.  Parme  de  Toulouse 


3.— Characteristic  growth  of  California  (single)  and 
Marie  Louise  (double)  compared. 

and  Parme  sans  Filet,  both  grown  for  a  number 
of  years  in  France  and  catalogued  by  Millet 
and  others,  seem  to  be  the  same  as  Campbell. 
It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  Campbell 


METHODS  OF  CULTURE.  25 

originated  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  that  it  was 
brought  to  England  about  1879  or  1880,  and  was 
imported  into  the  United  States  in  1892  or  possibly 
earlier.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  variety  has  made 
a  place  for  itself,  and  is  now,  owing  to  its  great 
vigor  and  productiveness,  gradually  taking  the 
place  of  the  Marie  Louise. 

CULTURE  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

Of  the  early  days  of  violet  growing  in  this 
country,  that  is,  the  work  as  it  was  carried  on  up 
to  fifteen  years  ago,  little  need  be  said.  In  most 
cases  the  methods  employed  were  crude  when 
looked  at  from  the  present  point  of  view,  just  as 
our  methods  will,  no  doubt,  be  considered  crude 
by  those  who  follow  us.  The  plants  for  the  most 
part  were  grown  in  frames  or  in  pots,  under  the 
mistaken  idea  that  it  was  necessary  to  have  them 
near  the  glass.  Even  now,  despite  the  rapid 
advances  made  in  greenhouse  construction,  it  is 
rare  to  find  a  modern  violet  establishment  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word.  Sash  houses  are  still 
largely  in  vogue,  and  little  resembling  the  com- 
pact, business-like  structures  used  for  carnations 
and  roses  are  to  be  found.  We  have  often  been 
at  a  loss  to  account  for  this,  except  on  the 
ground  that  the  plant  is  really  one  which  at 
times  will  do  fairly  well  under  seemingly  very 
poor  treatment,  while  again  all  the  coaxing  and 
luxurious  surroundings  imaginable  cannot  make 
it  thrive.  It  is  a  truth  well  established  that  more 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

people  go  into  violet  growing  and  fail  than  is  the 
case  with  the  growing  of  any  other  crop  under 
glass.  Time  and  time  again  we  have  seen  men 
start  into  the  business  with  no  experience  and 
nothing  but  the  poorest  kind  of  equipment  and 
succeed  for  the  first  two  or  three  years  in  a  truly 
remarkable  way.  Then  trouble  comes  in  one 
form  or  another  and  in  two  or  three  years  more 
the  grower  has  passed  out  of  the  field.  It  requires 
about  five  years  to  definitely  determine  what  a 
man  with  ordinary  facilities  can  do  in  this  matter. 
Of  course  he  will  have  his  ups  and  downs  and  the 
temptation  will  be  strong  at  times  to  give  up  the 
task  and  take  up  some  other  crop.  Such  moments 
are  his  worst,  for  if  he  sticks  to  his  one  problem 
and  endeavors  to  profit  by  his  experience  he  will 
in  the  end  succeed. 

Coming  back  to  the  question  of  how  violets 
are  grown  to-day,  we  find  that  those  engaged  in 
the  work  may  be  divided  into  two  groups,  (i) 
extensive  or  what  may  be  called  violet  farmers, 
and  (2)  intensive  or  violet  growers  proper.  Of 
course  one  will  find  numerous  gradations,  but  for 
practical  purposes  they  may  be  classed  under 
the  foregoing  heads.  Violet  farming  is  often  prac- 
ticed in  more  or  less  remote  country  districts^ 
where  land  and  labor  are  cheap.  Houses  are 
seldom  used  for  such  work,  but  frames  are  re- 
sorted to,  and  the  care  of  the  plants  is  left  to 
boys — sometimes  colored,  sometimes  white — over- 


METHODS    OF    CULTURE.  27 

looked  by  the  owner  of  the  place  or  perhaps  by  a 
foreman  or  two.  In  a  number  of  cases  this 
method  is  practiced  by  women,  and  not  without 
success.  Of  course  there  are  numerous  places 
where  work  of  this  kind  could  be  carried  on 
with  a  fair  prospect  of  success.  There  are  many 
farms  seventy-five,  one  hundred,  and  even  two 
hundred  or  three  hundred  miles  from  our  large 
cities  which  with  ordinary  farm  crops  barely 
yield  a  living.  In  such  cases  a  young  or 
middle-aged  person  might  take  up  this  work 
and  make  it  more  profitable  than  the  mere 
growing  of  farm  crops.  In  all  such  cases,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  to  succeed 
there  must  be  work  night  and  day  perhaps  for 
a  time,  and  while  it  may  never  be  the  heavy, 
killing  labor  which  farm  work  is  often  made  to 
be,  it  is  ceaseless,  tiresome  toil  just  the  same. 
The  intensive  grower,  on  the  other  hand,  should 
endeavor  to  locate  within  easy  driving  distance 
or  shipping  distance  of  his  principal  market; 
that  is,  he  should  if  possible  be  located  so  that 
he  can  pick  his  flowers  and  have  them  in  his 
dealer's  hands  within  an  hour  or  earlier  if  possible. 
It  is  the  sweet,  delicious  fragrance  that  sells  this 
flower  and  the  moment  it  is  picked  it  begins  to 
lose  this  all-important  thing.  Therefore  endeavor 
to  locate  so  that  you  are  in  quick  reach  of  your 
principal  dealer,  keeping  constantly  in  mind  the 
fact  that  your  success  depends  largely  on  his  sue- 


28  INTRODUCTION. 

cess.  Proximity  to  market  should  be  set  down  as 
the  first  requisite  to  success,  but  not  the  only  one 
by  any  means.  Character  of  the  soil,  and 
facilities  for  obtaining  manure,  water,  and  other 
necessities  must  be  considered.  These  factors 
will  all  be  described  in  detail  under  their  proper 
heads. 

Last  and  most  important  of  all,  the  man  him- 
self must  be  considered,  or  if  possible  must  con- 
sider himself.  No  man  can  learn  to  grow  violets 
from  reading  books,  nor  can  he  expect  to  get  this 
knowledge  from  watching  others.  He  can  get 
help  and  suggestions  of  course,  but  the  problems 
themselves  he  must  work  out  alone.  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  luck  in  growing  this  crop,  although 
it  often  looks  that  way.  A  man  succeeds  because 
he  has  the  necessary  knowledge  to  take  advantage 
of  the  little  things  and  make  the  most  of  them. 
Another  fails  because  he  does  not  see  or  fails  to 
realize  the  importance  of  the  little  hourly  and 
we  might  almost  say  minutely  occurring  things 
which  are  necessary  to  make  the  plants  grow  and 
thrive.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  be  able  to  put  on 
water,  mix  soil,  to  fire,  or  to  feed  and  propagate  the 
plants  properly.  The  man  may  do  all  these  accord- 
ing to  the  very  best  practices  and  yet  his  plants 
will  never  grow  and  bloom  like  those  of  the  man 
who  has  the  intuitive  knowledge  to  realize  the 
little  needs  and  to  make  the  cumulative  effects  of 
this  knowledge  felt  in  just  the  right  way  and  at  the 


METHODS    OF    CULTURE.  29 

right  time.  All  this  is  hard  to  put  into  words,  and 
will  not  be  understood  at  all  by  some  readers,  but 
it  is  seen  everywhere,  from  the  lady  who  grows 
only  a  few  house  plants,  but  always  succeeds  with 
them,  to  the  grower  with  his  acres  of  glass  in  which 
every  plant  seems  to  spring  into  vigorous  growth 
so  long  as  his  watchful  eye  is  upon  them  and  his 
hand  is  present  to  guide  and  direct  the  various 
operations. 

The  successful  grower  then  is  born,  not 
made,  for  it  is  not  a  question  of  mechanics,  but 
one  of  brains,  and  therefore,  if  there  is  not  an 
inherent  love  for  plants — that  feeling  of  sympathy 
between  them  and  you — some  other  work  would 
better  be  undertaken.  With  love  for  the  work 
and  appreciation  of  every  need  of  the  plants, 
success  will  in  the  end  result  even  though  many 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  surroundings  must  be 
overcome.  To  conclude,  the  whole  gist  of  this 
argument  is  that  surroundings,  of  course,  count 
for  considerable  in  such  work,  but  more  than  all 
the  rest  success  depends  on  the  man  himself,  or 
rather  on  what  he  has  in  him.  The  man  who  truly 
succeeds  in  this  work  will  succeed  in  almost  any 
business,  for  all  success  really  traces  back  to  one 
thing,  namely,  ability  to  see,  to  grasp,  and  to 
utilize  little  things  to  the  best  advantage.  Look 
after  these  and  the  big  ones  will  look  out  for 
themselves. 


30  SOIL. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE  SOIL. 

The  soil  forms  the  basis  for  all  work  in  plant 
growth  and  it  is  proper  therefore  that  it  should  be 
discussed  first.  Violets  will  grow  on  almost  any 
soil,  but  to  obtain  the  best  results  it  is  necessary 
to  pay  attention  to  certain  important  characters  of 
the  soil,  particularly  those  relating  to  its  physical 
properties.  The  importance  of  the  relation  of  the 
physical  properties  of  the  soil,  that  is,  texture, 
temperature,  and  moisture,  to  plant  growth  is  not 
fully  appreciated.  By  texture  is  meant  the 
character  of  the  particles  which  make  up  the  soil, 
while  structure  has  to  do  with  the  arrangement  of 
these  particles  and  their  relation  to  each  other. 
The  particles,  or  grains,  of  which  soils  are  com- 
posed vary  greatly  in  size,  and  to  distinguish  them 
they  have  received  certain  conventional  names, 
such  as  clay,  fine  silt,  silt,  fine  sand,  sand,  etc. 
The  clay  particles  are  extremely  minute,  silt  grains 
are  larger,  and  so  on  until  we  have  coarse  sand  or 
gravel,  with  grains  l/25  to  ¥12  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Upon  the  amounts  of  the  various  constituents, 
i.  e.,  clay,  fine  silt,  silt,  fine  sand,  etc.,  depends 
the  porosity  of  the  soil,  the  readiness  with  which 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 


TEXTURE. 

the  air  penetrates  it  and  water  moves  through 
it,  its  water-holding  capacity,  and  finally  its 
temperature.* 

By  varying  the  texture  of  the  soil  its  water 
content  is  varied,  its  capacity  for  heat  is  modified, 
and  so  on  until  every  important  factor,  including 
food,  in  the  ordinary  acceptance  of  the  word,  is 
involved.  To  these  variations  the  plant  adapts 
itself,  and  the  result  may  be  extensive  leaf  develop- 
ment with  few  or  no  flowers  or  vice  versa,  a  weak- 
ened condition  of  the  tissues  (making  the  plant 
subject  to  the  attacks  of  enemies,  especially  fungi), 
and  so  on  through  a  list  of  other  possibilities.  To 
illustrate  more  fully,  we  may  say  that  in  our 
experience  the  Lady  Hume  Campbell  violet  seems 
to  thrive  best  on  relatively  light  soil,  that  is,  a 
soil  which  contains  a  comparatively  small  amount 
of  clay.  The  Marie  Louise,  on  the  other  hand, 
does  best  with  more  clay,  or  in  other  words  a 
heavier  soil.  The  violet  soils  of  the  Poughkeepsie 
region  contain  from  eight  to  fifteen  per  cent  of 
clay,  and  it  is  here  that  the  highest  success  is 
attained  with  this  particular  variety.  In  parts  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia  where  the  Campbell  violet 
is  grown  extensively,  the  soils  frequently  contain 
six  to  eight  per  cent  of  clay,  so  that  it  will  be  seen 
that  there  is  considerable  difference  as  regards  the 
structure  of  the  two  classes  of  soils.  It  follows, 


*Galloway,  B.  T,,   Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for 
1895,  p.  250. 


32  SOIL. 

of  course,  that  where  soils  showing  so  much  differ- 
ence in  structure  are  used  the  plants  in  each  case 
have  different  sets  of  factors  to  which  they  must 
adapt  themselves,  and  in  doing  this  they  may  be  so 
modified  as  to  materially  affect  the  development  of 
the  flowers. 

Soils  of  both  the  heavy  and  moderately  heavy 
types  are  found  in  many  places  and  if  they  do  not 
occur  naturally  the  desired  effects  may  be  approxi- 
mated by  combinations  of  light  and  heavy  soils. 
We  have  never  found  it  satisfactory  to  lighten 
heavy  soil  by  mixing  in  sand  alone.  This  takes 
away  the  life  of  the  soil  and  plants  never  succeed 
so  well  in  it  as  when  the  desired  conditions  are 
produced  by  mixing  a  heavy  and  a  light  soil.  For 
example,  we  may  have  in  one  part  of  a  field  a  soil 
containing  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent  of  clay  and 
in  another  one  containing  four  or  five  per  cent. 
By  mixing  these  two  soils  in  equal  proportion  a 
combination  is  effected  which,  other  conditions 
being  equal,  will  prove  better  for  violets  than 
either  soil  used  alone. 

Of  course  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
conditions  for  plants  under  glass  are  different 
from  those  out-of-doors.  Outside  the  plant  has 
to  take  what  it  can  get  in  the  way  of  water,  air, 
and  other  important  conditions  for  growth,  while 
inside  these  are  in  a  measure  made  to  order  by  the 
grower  himself.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  even 
where  the  soil  is  not  what  it  should  be  the  grower 


STRUCTURE.  33 

has  it  within  his  power,  to  a  large  extent,  to  over- 
come the  difficulties  by  a  proper  manipulation  of 
the  surroundings. 

This  question  of  the  structure  of  the  soil  and 
its  relation  to  plant  growth  is  a  rather  difficult  one 
to  explain  in  words.  The  practical  grower  learns 
by  experience  how  to  judge  a  soil  largely  by  its 
appearance  and  its  "  feel"  when  taken  in  the  hand. 
The  facts  given  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  struc- 
ture of  soil  on  plant  growth,  therefore,  help  a 
novice  by  acquainting  him  with  matters  he  ought 
to  know,  but  they  will  not  show  him  what  he  can 
do,  for  experience  alone  can  teach  him  this.  Any 
soil  that  will  grow  a  good  crop  of  potatoes  will, 
with  proper  manuring,  grow  good  violets.  This 
means  that  the  soil  should  be  a  moderately  heavy 
loam,  that  it  should  not  pack  or  puddle  readily, 
and  that  it  should  contain  plenty  of  fibrous 
material,  which  can  be  obtained  by  using  good 
turf  or  sod. 

We  prefer  in  all  cases  to  use  good  sod  or  turf, 
cutting  this  not  more  than  three  or  four  inches 
thick.  Where  land  is  plentiful,  that  is,  where  the 
grower  has  several  acres  at  his  disposal,  it  will  be 
best  to  keep  part  of  it  constantly  in  grass.  Blue 
grass,  white  clover,  and  redtop  make  a  good  mix- 
ture. For  every  bushel  of  blue  grass  seed  use 
one  quart  of  white  clover  and  one-third  bushel  of 
redtop.  Coarse  grasses,  like  orchard  grass  and 
timothy,  should  be  avoided,  as  the  stems  and  heavy 


34  SOIL. 

roots  are  sources  of  annoyance  in  handling  the 
soil.  Where  one  has  land  that  can  be  spared  he 
should  allow  for  every  thousand  plants  not  less 
than  one-twentieth  of  an  acre  in  grass  upon  which 
he  can  depend  for  soil.  The  soil  after  being  used 
can  be  hauled  out  and  after  being  spread  on  the 
ground  be  reseeded  and  in  six  or  eight  years 
will  propably  be  as  good  as  new.  In  the  majority 
of  cases  it  is  necessary  to  purchase  the  soil  and  this 
is  usually  done  through  contractors  and  sometimes 
from  farmers  who  have  the  sod  to  spare.  It  is 
customary  to  pay  from  seventy-five  cents  to  one 
dollar  per  cubic  yard  for  good  sod  cut  three  or  four 
inches  thick  and  delivered  on  the  place.  A  cubic 
yard  contains  twenty-seven  cubic  feet,  that  is,  a  pile 
one  foot  high,  three  feet  wide,  and  nine  feet  long. 
More  often  the  soil  is  bought  merely  by  the  '  'load, " 
a  load  being  usually  about  a  yard — sometimes  a 
little  more,  sometimes  less.  Seventy-five  cents  to 
one  dollar  per  load  is  the  price  usually  paid  for  soil. 
Some  prefer  to  stack  the  soil,  that  is,  to  cut  it 
and  pile  it  in  a  heap  in  the  early  fall,  but  this  is  not 
always  practicable,  hence  very  often  the  work  is 
left  till  spring.  On  the  whole  we  can  see  no 
advantage  in  the  early  fall  stacking  unless  it  can  be 
done  during  a  time  when  work  is  not  pressing. 
Where  practicable  our  preference  is  to  cut  the  sod 
in  the  fall  and  allow  it  to  stand  in  the  field  unpiled 
until  it  has  been  frozen  hard  three  or  four  times. 
In  this  way  grubs,  nematodes,  and  the  larvae  of 


HANDLING.  35 

many  insects  are  killed,  and  at  the  same  time 
benefit  is  derived  from  the  effects  of  the  frost  on 
the  mechanical  and  chemical  condition  of  the  soil. 
Before  hard  winter  weather  sets  in  the  soil  should 
be  either  hauled  close  to  the  greenhouses  and 
piled  or  else  made  into  a  heap  where  it  stands.  In 
sections  where  the  soil  is  not  from  limestone 
formation,  fresh  slacked  lime  should  be  added  to 
it  when  it  is  being1  put  into  the  heap  or  direct- 
ly after  cutting.  Lime  should  be  added  at  the  rate 
of  about  two-thirds  of  a  bushel  for  each  one  thou- 
sand square  feet  cut.  In  stacking  the  soil  we  pre- 
fer to  make  a  heap  about  four  feet  high,  twenty  to 
twenty-five  feet  wide,  and  of  any  length  desired. 
At  this  time  the  manure,  which  should  have  been 
previously  procured  and  put  into  good  condition, 
is  to  be  added  to  the  soil.  As  a  rule  one  part  of 
manure  to  four  parts  of  soil  will  make  a  combina- 
tion sufficiently  rich  for  any  purpose.  This  is 
assuming,  of  course,  that  the  manure  is  well  rotted 
and  free  from  light  chaff  and  straw.  Well-rotted 
cow  manure  is  preferable  if  it  can  be  obtained,  but 
if  not,  well-rotted  and  carefully  handled  horse 
manure  will  answer  equally  as  well.  Avoid  all 
experimenting  with  chemical  fertilizers. 
They  are  well  enough  in  their  place,  and  in  the 
hands  of  one  who  has  had  experience  no  harm  will 
result  from  the  use  of  a  little  pure,  ground,  undis- 
solved  bone,  but  it  must  be  pure  and  applied  at 
the  rate  of  not  more  than  one-half  bushel  for  each 


36  SOIL. 

one  thousand  plants.  The  bone  should  be  mixed 
with  the  soil  when  the  heap  is  being  made.  When 
a  cart  and  horse  are  at  hand  we  prefer  to  use  them 


4.— Mixing'  soil.    Spreading-  manure  in  layers  between 
the  soil. 

in  making  the  heap.  Four  loads  of  soil,  each  a 
cubic  yard,  are  hauled  and  spread,  and  then  a  load 
of  manure  is  added  and  spread  over  the  soil.  This 


MIXING.  37 

is  continued  until  the  first  layer  of  the  heap  is  of 
the  desired  width  and  length,  when  a  second  layer 
is  formed  in  the  same  way.  After  finishing  each 


5.— Mixing  soil.     Breaking  and  pulverizing   the  sod  pre- 
paratory to  putting1  it  down  with  layers  of  manure. 

layer  the  bone  meal  may  be  sown  thinly  over  the 
surface.  Put  it  on  about  as  thick  as  is  done  in  sand- 
ing or  sawdusting  a  floor.  Working  in  this  way, 


38  SOIL. 

two  active  men  can  put  into  a  heap  forty  to  fifty 
yards  of  soil  a  day,  or  a  sufficient  quantity  for  four 
thousand  to  five  thousand  plants,  figuring  that  the 
beds  contain  six  inches  of  fresh  made  soil  and  that 
the  manure  and  turf  are  one  hundred  to  two  hun- 
dred feet  apart.  It  is  seen,  therefore,  that  each 
cubic  yard  of  the  mixture  is  sufficient  for  one  hun- 
dred plants,  allowing  a  depth  of  six  inches  for  the 
beds. 

When  soil  is  purchased,  or  even  when  it  is 
obtained  from  one's  own  place,  it  is  never  exactly 
alike  any  two  years.  For  this  reason  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  experiment  a  little  before  the  general 
mixing  is  commenced.  It  takes  very  little  time 
to  make  up  several  lots  of  soil  in  different  pro- 
portions, using  a  water  pail  to  make  the  measure- 
ments. For  instance,  we  have  soil  from  two  local- 
ities, one  of  which  is  moderately  heavy  and  the  other 
light,  and  also  well  rotted  manure  which  we  make 
up  in  the  following  combinations: 

(1)  Light  soil,  one  part. 
Heavy  soil,  three  parts. 
Manure,  one  part. 

(2)  Light  soil,  two  parts. 
Heavy  soil,  two  parts. 
Manure,  one  part. 

(3)  Light  soil,  two  parts. 
Heavy  soil,  three  parts. 
Manure,  one  part. 

(4)  Heavy  soil,  four  parts. 
Manure,  one  part. 


MIXING.  39 

By  using  a  pail,  only  small  quantities  of  soil  and 
manure  are  needed,  but  there  will  be  sufficient 
material  in  each  case  after  a  thorough  mixing  to 
tell  what  the  combinations  look  and  feel  like.  It 
is  always  best  to  allow  the  heaps  to  stand  a  week 
or  two  for  they  often  change  their  texture  on 
standing,  especially  when  lime  is  used.  With  a 
little  practice  one  can  soon  determine  in  his  own 
mind  what  combinations  suit  him  best,  and  then  he 
will  at  least  have  a  rational  basis  to  work  upon. 
Right  here  we  may  utter  a  word  of  warning 
against  the  growing  practice  of  allowing1  the  ex- 
perimenting mania  to  get  the  better  of  judg- 
ment. Some  individuals  are  over-inquiring,  and 
for  this  reason  the  temptation  is  to  experiment 
continually,  with  the  result  that  nothing  succeeds, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  one  thing  is  not  tried 
long  enough  to  find  out  its  real  value.  We 
find  a  grower  trying  first  this,  then  that  ferti- 
lizer or  method,  with  the  result  that  by  and 
by  he  gives  up  in  disgust  and  says  that  his 
soil  or  his  section  is  not  suited  to  the  crop  he 
is  attempting  to  grow.  If  he  could  only  be 
brought  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  the  trouble 
is  not  wholly  in  the  soil  or  surroundings,  but  is 
partly  in  himself,  he  would  soon  be  on  the  road  to 
success.  We  have  known  men  to  spend  years  of 
work  in  experimenting  one  way  or  another,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time  they  would  be  little  wiser 
than  when  they  commenced.  All  this  time  the 


40  SOIL. 

plants  have  been  doctored  with  insecticides  and 
fungicides,  fed  on  many  kinds  of  food,  and  in  short 
made  to  run  the  whole  gamut  of  crank  and  quack 
notions  advertised  from  time  to  time.  What  is 
needed  here  is  a  mind  cure  for  the  individual  and 
less  doctoring  for  the  plants.  Experiment,  of 
course,  but  do  not  be  led  away  by  it,  and  do  not 
allow  every  new  idea  or  suggestion  to  take  you 
from  the  main  purpose  or  to  bias  your  judgment. 
To  return  from  our  digression,  the  soil  when 
heaped  should  be  protected  by  rough  boards  or  by 
some  other  means  from  rains.  Much  benefit  will 
result  if  the  soil  is  turned  two  or  three  times  before 
it  is  taken  into  the  houses.  Many  omit  this,  but 
we  are  convinced  that  it  pays  to  turn  it  as  this 
improves  its  condition  in  many  ways.  The  cost 
will  not  exceed  fifty  cents  per  thousand  plants  for 
each  turning.  Reference  has  been  made  to  the 
quantity  of  soil  used,  but  it  is  desirable  to  enter 
somewhat  into  detail  upon  this  point.  We  aim  to 
put  in  six  inches  of  fresh  soil  each  year. 
Plants  may  do  well  on  less  or  even  on  the  soil 
that  has  been  used  once,  but  the  grower  who  is 
in  the  business  for  all  there  is  to  be  made  out  of 
it,  can  not  afford  to  run  any  risks,  hence  he  should 
calculate  on  not  less  than  six  inches  of  new  soil 
each  year.  To  determine  then  how  much  soil  is 
necessary,  merely  multiply  the  length  of  each  bed 
in  feet  and  inches  by  the  width,  and  multiply  this  by 
one-half.  This  will  give  the  number  of  cubic  feet, 


AMOUNT    TO    USE.  41 

and  as  there  are  twenty-seven  cubic  feet  in  a  cubic 
yard,  the  number  of  cubic  feet  divided  by  twenty- 
seven  will  give  the  number  of  cubic  yards.  For  ex- 
ample, it  has  been  our  practice  to  have  our  beds 
numbered  (these  numbers  are  held  constant  from 
year  to  year)  as  follows  : 

Bed  No.  i.     75x6  feet=45o   square   feet  x  y2   foot=225 

cubic  feet,  or  practically  8  cubic  yards. 
Bed  No.  2.    125  x  5  feet  =625  square  feet  x  i/2  foot  =312 

cubic  feet-J-27=ii.4  yards. 

All  the  beds  being-  numbered  in  this  way  it  is 
an  easy  matter  to  tell  just  how  much  soil  will 
be  needed.  Of  course  in  considering  the  bulk  as 
a  whole  the  manure  must  be  counted  in,  that  is, 
if  a  total  of  one  hundred  yards  of  prepared  soil  is 
needed  the  manure  will  form  one-fourth  of  this,  or 
twenty-five  yards.  It  will  be  necessary  therefore 
to  purchase  seventy -five  yards  of  soil  proper  and 
twenty-five  yards  of  manure  for  the  mixture.  The 
cost  of  manure  will  of  course  depend  on  many  cir- 
cumstances, but  in  the  vicinity  of  cities  it  can  seldom 
be  bought  for  less  than  seventy-five  cents  a  cubic 
yard,  or  about  two  dollars  and  a  half  for  a  two- 
horse  wagon  load. 

The  foregoing  statements  in  regard  to  soil, 
mixing,  etc.,  are  based  upon  the  supposition 
that  the  grower  is  near  a  city,  where  land  is 
high,  and  that  his  work  is  on  an  intensive 
plan,  and  further,  that  the  plants  are  grown 
where  they  are  to  stand  and  not  planted  in 
the  field  and  then  moved  in.  No  man  who  is 


42  SOIL. 

in  the  business  to  compete  with  the  best 
growers  can  afford  to  run  the  risk  of 
growing  his  plants  in  the  field  and  mov- 
ing them  into  houses.  From  the  time  the 
cutting  is  made  until  the  old  plant  is  thrown  away 
the  work  is  or  should  be  entirely  under  glass. 
Where  violet  farming  is  practiced,  i.  e. ,  where 
land  is  plentiful  and  the  crop  is  grown  in  frames, 
it  is  customary  in  some  sections  to  merely  plow  up 
a  fresh  piece  of  sod  each  year  or  every  two  or 
three  years  and  move  the  frames.  We  do  not 
recommend  this  practice  and  believe  that  it 
pays  to  bring  the  soil  into  heaps  and  mix  it  as 
described  even  if  it  is  to  be  used  in  frames.  The 
more  the  soil  is  handled  the  better,  providing 
of  course  the  work  is  not  done  when  there  is  too 
much  moisture  present.  Never  allow  a  shovel  to 
touch  the  soil  when  the  latter  is  wet,  for  irrepa- 
rable injury  can  be  done  at  such  a  time.  Wait 
until  the  soil  is  mealy  and  never  touch  it  when 
it  is  pasty  and  putty-like  to  the  touch.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  the  soil  is  not  a  dead, 
inert  mass,  but  is  an  exceedingly  complicated 
material — an  active  working  laboratory,  teeming 
with  life  and  performing  functions  which  we 
as  yet  but  little  understand.  Fortunate  is  the 
man  who  knows  enough  to  appreciate  this  fact  and 
to  let  the  soil  alone  when  by  so  doing  its  wonder- 
ful mechanism  is  brought  into  play  for  the  best 
use  of  the  plants  it  sustains. 


HOUSES. 


CHAPTER   III. 


CONSTRUCTION   OF   HOUSES    AND    FRAMES. 

CONSTRUCTION  OF  HOUSES. 
Probably  more  makeshifts  in  the  way  of 
houses  for  growing  violets  have  been  used  in  this 
country  than  for  any  other  crop.  The  evolution 
of  this  part  of  the  work  has  been  exceptionally 
slow,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  at  this  time  a 
thoroughly  modern  establishment  in  every  way. 
Ordinary  cold  frames  were  first  used;  then  in 
order  to  get  at  the  plants  in  bad  weather  a  pit 
was  made  so  as  to  obtain  head  room  and  still 
utilize  the  sash  and  keep  the  plants  near  the  glass. 
Gradually  growers  began  to  get  their  plants  above 
ground  and  to  increase  the  amount  of  head  room 
and  air  space  by  raising  the  sash  above  the  beds. 
Many  houses  are  still  made  on  this  plan,  while  a 
comparatively  few  are  built  with  stationary  sash 
bars  and  permanent  glass  roof.  There  are  no 
special  advantages  in  making  a  house  of  sash, 
except  in  certain  cases,  which  will  be  mentioned 
later.  Such  houses  cannot  be  made  wind  or 
water-tight,  and  as  a  rule  are  so  full  of  wood  as  to 
be  unnecessarily  dark.  When  it  was  considered 
necessary  to  take  the  glass  off  in  summer,  sashes, 


44 


CONSTRUCTION. 


HOUSES. 


45 


of  course,  were  an  important  item,  for  they  could 
easily  be  removed  and  stored  until  wanted  in  the 
fall.  If  one  intends  to  make  a  permanent  house 
we  by  all  means  recommend  the  fixed  roof,  with 


7. —House  twelve  feet  wide,  six  feet  to  ridge;  side  venti- 
lators of  glass.     This  is  one  of  a  block  of  five  bouses, 
each  seventy-five  leet  long. 

ventilators  and  other  necessary  adjuncts  arranged 
as  we  shall  now  proceed  to  describe. 


46 


CONSTRUCTION. 


HOUSES.  47 

All  things  considered,  our  preference  is  for 
even  span  houses  running  north  and  south.  The 
violet  does  not  thrive  well  under  glaring  sunlight. 
It  needs  light,  but  this  should  be  softened  and 
diffused  in  order  to  insure  the  best  results  in  the 
growth  and  the  size  and  color  of  the  flowers. 
The  three-quarter  span  house  facing  south  is  apt 
to  be  too  bright,  and  if  heavy  shading  is  resorted 
to  it  is  effective  in  bright  weather  but  makes  it 
too  dark  when  cloudy.  Economy  in  space  and 
economy  in  building,  furthermore,  can  be  attained 
by  adopting  the  even  span  north  and  south  style  of 
house.  In  our  work  we  have  made  it  a  point 
to  keep  a  careful  record  of  not  only  the  flowers 
from  each  kind  of  house,  but  from  each  bed  in  a 
house.  These  records,  kept  from  year  to  year, 
furnish  interesting  information  and  enable  one 
who  is  looking  to  every  detail  to  make  changes 
that  will  result  to  his  advantage.  The  three- 
quarter  span  house  facing  south  in  our  case  never 
gave  as  many  flowers  per  square  foot  of  bed  space 
by  twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent  as  the  even 
span  houses  running  north  and  south. 

When  capital  and  space  are  limited  we  know 
of  no  better  style  of  house  than  a  narrow,  plain, 
even  span,  built  on  the  ridge  and  furrow  plan,  and 
running  north  and  south.  The  length  may  be 
from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 

Our  preference  is  for  houses  one  hundred  feet 
long,  twelve  feet  wide,  seven  feet  to  the  ridge 


48 


CONSTRUCTION. 


HOUSES. 


49 


from  the  bottom  of  the  walk,  and  two  feet  eight 
inches  high  on  the  sides  above  ground  level  (see 
figure  8).  Where  the  amount  of  ground  is  limited 
these  houses  may  be  built  together — two,  three, 


10. — Shed  at  north  end  of  houses,  shovsing  method  of 
construction.    Shed  ban  glass  roof. 

five,  or  seven,  as  the  case  may  be — without  inter- 
vening walls.  At  the  north  end  of  the  houses  and 
running  the  entire  length  across  the  ends  there 
should  be  a  lean-to  shed  eight  feet  wide  and 


5° 


CONSTRUCTION. 


provided  with  glass  roof  sloping  to  the  north. 
Against  the  north  wall  may  be  placed  a  propa- 
gating bed  three  and  one-half  feet  wide,  leaving 
four  and  one-half  feet  clear  space  for  a  walk 
and  entrance  to  each  house.  If  more  than  six 


11. — Interior  of  shed  shown  in  10.    Propagating  bench  on 

the  right,  supply  pipes  (two   inch)  on  the 

left,  shed  eight  leet  wide. 

houses  are  in  the  block,  the  boiler  should  be 
placed  near  the  center  in  a  pit  dug  beneath  the 
shed.  If  necessary,  of  course,  the  entire  space 
beneath  the  shed  may  be  devoted  to  coal,  a  work- 


HOUSES. 


51 


shop,  and  perhaps  a  place  for  tools.  If  the  number 
of  houses  are  three  or  less,  the  boiler  may  be 
placed  at  one  end  of  the  shed  in  a  pit,  as  already 
described.  The  end  selected  should  depend  upon 


12 — Roofs  of  twelve  foot  houses,  showing  method  of  con- 
struction and  of  attaching"  ventilators;   one  row 
of  glass  between  the  ventilators. 

the  general  slope   of  the  land,  the  object  being 
to  get  the  boiler  at  the  lowest  point.     Following  is 


52  CONSTRUCTION. 

a  detailed  statement  in  regard  to  the  points  to 
consider  in  this  type  of  house: 

Length,  one  hundred  feet,  with  one  foot  fall  to  carry  off 

water. 

Inside  width,  twelve  feet. 
Height  to  ridge  from  bottom  of  walk,  seven  feet. 
Height  of  side  from  top  of  plate  to  bottom  of  gutter,  twenty 

inches  (see  figure  24). 
Walls  below  plates  to  be  boarded  up  with  rough  lumber 

first,  then  covered  with  rustic  siding  (see  figure  24). 
Number  of  walks,  one  in  each  house,  placed  in  the  center. 
Width  of  walk,  fourteen  inches. 
Depth  of  walk,  twelve  inches. 
Number  of  beds,  two. 
Width  of  each  bed,  five  feet  five  inches. 
Depth  of  beds,  twelve  inches. 
Posts  in  outside  walls,  four  by  four  inches  sawed  cedar, 

chestnut,    or  locust,  set  four  feet   apart  center  to 

center,  and  two  and  one-half  feet  in  the  ground. 
Posts  in  inside  walls,  four  by  four  inches,  set  eight  feet 

apart  center  to  center,  and  two  and  one-half  feet  in 

the  ground. 
Gutters,  three  piece,  six  inches  in  the  clear,  made  of  two 

inch  clear  cypress  (see  figure  18). 
Wall  plates,  two  by  eight  inch  clear  cypress,  to  be  notched 

around  posts. 
Gable  plates  for  end  of  each  house,  two  by  eight  inch 

clear  cypress. 

Gable  rafters,  one  and  three-quarters  by  two  and  one- 
quarter  inch  clear  cypress. 
Sash  bars  clear  cypress,  one  and  one-quarter  by  two 

and  one-half  inches,  with  drip  groove,  all  bars  to  ex- 
tend from  gutter  to  ridge. 
Rafters,  two  by  four  inch,  clear  cypress,  to  be  set  every 

sixteen  feet.    Rafters  to  take  place  of  sash  bar. 
Ridge  (with  ridge  cap),  two  by  six  inches. 
Top  ventilators,  two  by  four  feet,  or  made  to  cover  three 

rows  of  glass  set  fifteen  inches,  including  sash  bars. 

One  row  of  glass  to  be  left  between  the  ventilators. 


HOUSES.  53 

Headers  to  be  placed  under  ventilator. 

Ventilators  on  side,  two  by  four  feet,  continuous,  and  to 
lap  on  post  one-half. 

Glass  ten  by  fifteen  inches,  double  thick,  second  quality, 
lapped  and  bedded  in  putty.  Glass  set  fifteen  inch 
way. 

South  ends  of  houses  glass,  with  exception  of  door,  which 
should  be  four  feet  wide  so  as  to  admit  a  wheelbarrow 
readily. 

North  ends  of  houses  opening  into  shed  to  be  made  of 
tongue  and  groove  pine,  with  doors  the  same  size 
as  those  on  south  end. 

Walls  of  shed  to  be  made  of  rustic  siding  nailed  to  two  by 
four  studs  set  eighteen  inches  apart.  Inside  of  shed 
to  be  lined  with  tongue  and  groove  yellow  pine. 

Wall  plate  of  shed,  two  by  six  yellow  pine. 

Top  plate  of  shed,  same  as  wall  plate. 

Doors  in  north  wall  of  shed,  four  feet  wide,  opening 
opposite  doors  in  north  end  of  houses. 

Posts  for  sides  of  beds,  two  by  four  hemlock,  set  four 
feet  apart,  and  wired  to  opposite  posts  or  to  stakes  to 
prevent  spreading.  Set  wires  ten  inches  below  top  of 
bed. 

Sides  of  beds,  one  by  twelve  inch  hemlock  boards  nailed  to 
outside  ot  the  two  by  four  posts. 

Heating  pipes,  black  wrought  iron  screw  joints,  two 
one  and  one-half  inch  flows  for  each  house  and  ten 
one  and  one-quarter  inch  returns  (five  on  each  side  of 
house).  Pipes  run  so  that  the  highest  point,  includ- 
ing expansion  tank,  is  directly  over  the  boiler. 

Flow  and  returns  in  all  houses  to  have  the  same  fall,  i.  e., 
about  one  inch  for  every  ten  feet  of  pipe. 

To  feed  five  houses  of  the  size  here  given  (twelve  by  one 
hundred  feet),  it  will  be  necessary  to  run  out  two  two 
and  one-half  inch  pipes  from  the  boiler,  allowing  one 
pipe  to  feed  the  two  houses  on  the  west  and  one  to 
feed  the  three  on  the  east.  The  west  is  given  the  ad- 
vantage on  account  of  the  greater  exposure. 

Top  ventilators  operated  by  plain  lifting  rods  with  holes 
and  pins  to  give  a  four  to  sixteen  inch  opening. 


54 


CONSTRUCTION. 


The    accompanying    illustrations    will    make 
plain  the  points  mentioned. 

The  second  type  of  house,  which  will  require 


13. — A  twelve  foot  house,  showing  method  of  constructing 
and  attaching  side  ventilators. 

more  ground  and  capital,  is  also  even  span,  running 
north  and  south,   but  with  a  space  of  eight  feet 


HOUSES.  55 

between  the  houses.      Following  are  the  principal 
features  of  this  style  of  house: 

Length  of  house,  one  hundred  feet,  with  one  foot  fall  to 

carry  off  water. 

Width  of  shed  at  north  end,  ten  feet. 
Width  of  house  inside,  twenty-four  feet. 
Height  of  walls  from  top  of  plate  to  bottom  of  gutter, 

twenty   inches.     Plate  to  be   twelve  inches  above 

grade  (see  figure  24). 
Walls  below  plate  to  be  boarded  up  with  rough  lumber 

and  then  covered  with  rustic  siding  (see  figure  24). 
Height  of  house  inside  from  top  of  center  bed  to  bottom  of 

ridge,  nine  feet. 
Number  of  walks,  two. 
Width  of  walks  each,  fourteen  inches. 
Number  of  beds,  three. 
Width  of  center  bed,  ten  feet  ten  inches. 
Width  of  side  beds  each,  five  feet  five  inches. 
Depth  of  beds,  twelve  inches. 
Posts  in  side  walls,  sawed  cedar,  chestnut,  or  locust,  four 

by  four  inches,  set  four  feet  apart  center  to  center  and 

two  and  one-half  feet  in  the  ground. 
Gutters,  three  piece  cypress,  six  inches  in  the  clear  (see 

figure  18). 
Plates,  two  by  eight  inches,  clear  cypress,  cut  to  fit  around 

posts  and  to  receive  bottom  of  ventilator. 
Gable  plates  at  ends  of  house,  two  by  eight  inches  clear 

cypress. 

Gable  rafters,  one  and  three-quarters  by  two  and  one- 
quarter  inches  clear  cypress. 
Purlins,  one  inch  black  pipe,  run  under  each  slope  five  feet 

nine  inches  from  ridge. 
Supports  for  purlins,  one  inch  pipe,  long  enough  to  extend 

through  bed  and  into  cement  block  in  the  ground. 
Support  for  ridge,  one  and  one-quarter  inch  black  pipe, 

placed  eight  feet  apart  and  set  the  same  as  supports 

under  purlins. 

Iron  posts,  to  be  attached  to  purlins  by  T's  one  and  one- 
quarter  inch  through,  so  as  to  slip  over  purlin  pipe,' 

with  one  inch  side  to  take  support. 


56  CONSTRUCTION. 

Sash  bars,  clear  cypress,  one  and  one-quarter  by  two  and 
one-half  inches,  with  drip  groove,  all  bars  to  extend 
from  gutter  to  ridge. 

Rafters,  none. 

Ridge,  clear  cypress,  two  by  six  inches,  with  ridge  cap. 

Top  ventilators  on  both  sides,  each  ventilator  two  by  four 
feet,  or  long  enough  to  cover  three  sash  bars  and 
glass,  leaving  one  row  of  glass  between  each  two 
ventilators,  headers  under  ventilators. 

Ventilators  on  sides,  two  by  four  feet,  continuous,  and 
made  to  lap  on  posts. 

Ventilator-raising  apparatus  for  top  and  sides  consisting 
of  geared  wheels,  shafts,  arms,  and  rods. 

Glass,  ten  by  fifteen  inches,  double  thick,  second  quality, 
lapped,  and  bedded  in  putty. 

Posts  for  supporting  sides  of  beds,  two  by  four  inch  hem- 
lock, set  four  feet  apart  and  wired  to  opposite  posts 
to  prevent  bed  from  spreading. 

Sides  of  beds,  one  inch  hemlock  or  cypress,  nailed  to  out- 
side of  posts. 

Heating  pipes,  black  wrought  iron  and  screw  joint,  being 
run  so  that  the  highest  point  is  directly  over  the 
boiler. 

Flow  pipe,  two  and  one-half  inches,  to  be  carried  directly 
under  the  ridge  and  to  fall  to  south  end  about  one 
inch  in  every  ten  feet. 

Returns,  twelve  one  and  one-half  inch  pipe,  to  fall  one 
inch  in  ten  feet  from  south  to  north  end,  two  pipes  to 
be  carried  over  center  bed  and  five  along  each  wall. 
This  will  give  sufficient  radiating  surface  to  maintain 
with  hot  water  an  inside  temperature  of  fifty  degrees 
F.  with  an  outside  temperature  at  zero  and  no  wind 
blowing.  Plugged  openings  should  be  left  for  at 
least  four  additional  returns  so  as  to  be  on  the  safe 
side.  This  can  be  done  with  very  little  additional 
expense  and  may  be  worth  a  good  many  dollars  at 
some  future  time. 

As  many  houses  as  may  be  desired  can  be  built  after  this 
plan,  all  connecting  at  the  north  end  with  the  shed 
having  a  slope  running  to  the  north,  the  same  as 


HEATING. 


57 


described  for  the  first  style  of  house.  It  is  best  to 
leave  at  least  eight  feet  between  each  two  houses  to 
faclitate  ventilation,  the  taking  out  of  plants  and 
soil,  clearing  off  the  snow  from  the  roofs,  and  other 
necessary  work. 

So  much  for  the  main  points  involved  in  the 
construction  of  the  two  principal  styles  of  houses. 
In  the  matter  of  heating  we  have  considered  only 
hot  water,  as  we  believe  it  has  advantages  over 
steam  in  growing  violets.  A  proper  boiler  is  of 


14. — Fastening-  pipes  to 
posts  by  tin  clips. 


15. — Fastening-  pipes  to  posts 
by  bent  wire  nails. 


the  utmost  importance — so  important  in  fact  that 
the  most  careful  consideration  should  be  given  to 
its  selection.  Notwithstanding  all  that 
has  been  written  on  heating  it  is  a 
fact  that  nearly  every  man  who  goes 
into  greenhouse  work  is  dissatis- 


CONSTRUCTION. 


fied  until  he  has  spent  a  good  deal 
of  money  and  time  in  experimenting 
on  this  feature.  Experience  obtained  in  this 
way  is  sometimes  dearly  bought  and  it  pays 


16.— Interior  of  twelve  foot  house,  showing  method  of 
constructing  south  end  and  door. 

better  to  take  the  advice  of  others  who  have 
gone  over  the  same  ground  and  have  reached 
conclusions  that  will  apply  to  your  case. 


HEATING. 


Boiler  makers,  under  the  stimulus  of  competi- 
tion, have,  in  many  cases,  wandered  away  from 
the  simple  principles  that  must  be  considered 
in  making1  an  economical,  efficient  apparatus.  In 


17. — Interior  of  house,  showing  method  of  connecting- 
flow  pipe  with  four  returns. 

our  experience  with  boilers  we  have  never  found 
any  that  would  fill  all  requirements  so  nearly  as 
one  of  simple  construction,  giving  the  largest 


6o 


CONSTRUCTION. 


HEATING. 


6l 


possible  amount  of  direct  heating  surface,  and 
offering  the  least  resistance  to  the  movement  of 
the  water,  and  a  fire  box  deep  and  big  enough  to 
carry  a  large  amount  of  fuel  at  slow  combustion. 


19.— Interior  construction.    Method  of  connecting  returns 
at  north  end  of  house. 

There  is  no  economy  in  curtailing  the  size  of 
the  fire  box  and  adding  sections,  which  at  best  can 
only  receive  the  hot  gases.  In  order  to  get  the 


62 


CONSTRUCTION. 


gg 


II 


HEATING.  63 

full  service  out  of  such  a  boiler  it  will  be  necessary 
to  carry  a  hot  fire,  and  as  a  result  a  large  per  cent 
of  the  heat  goes  up  the  chimney.  Boilers,  there- 
fore, should  be  selected  with  due  regard  to  (i)  the 
amount  of  direct  heating  surface,  (2)  perpendic- 
ular circulation  of  the  water  in  the  boiler,  (3)  the 
capacity  for  fuel,  and  (4)  conveniences  in  the  mat- 
ter of  suitable  grates,  drafts,  and  doors.  Most 
boilers  are  rated  on  the  number  of  square  feet  of 
pipe  they  will  heat.  Asa  rule,  at  least  twenty- 
five  per  cent  margin  should  be  allowed  on  these 
figures  in  order  to  be  on  the  safe  side.  For 
example,  if  a  boiler  is  rated  to  heat  one  thousand 
square  feet  of  pipe  it  should  not  have  more  than 
seven  hundred  or  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
put  upon  it.  It  may  heat  the  thousand  feet 
at  a  pinch,  but  the  grower  wants  it  to 
heat  the  pipe  at  all  times  with  a  slow 
fire  that  will  stand  without  attention 
at  least  six  or  seven  hours. 

The  saddle,  conical,  and  locomotive  types  of 
boilers  are  probably  as  efficient  as  any  we  now 
have,  and  by  taking  any  one  of  these  and  fitting 
it  up  with  the  modern  improvements  in  the  way 
of  deep  fire  box,  grates,  ash-pit,  door  and  flue 
drafts,  and  dampers,  it  would,  in  all  probability, 
do  the  work  more  economically  and  efficiently 
than  a  large  number  of  the  intricate  forms  now  on 
the  market.  There  is  the  keenest  competition 
among  boiler  makers,  and  as  a  rule,  they  are  to  be 


64 


CONSTRUCTION. 


I 

o 

•a 
o 

•=! 


HEATING.  65 

commended  for  the  great  energy  they  show  in 
endeavoring  to  adapt  their  apparatus  to  the 
demands  of  the  trade.  Prices  are  so  close  that 
every  additional  ounce  of  iron  counts,  and  for  this 
reason  it  would  seem  to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to 


22.— House  twenty-four  feet  wide;  posts  set  and  shed  at 
north  end  built  first. 

simplify  construction  as  much  as  possible.  It  is 
a  matter  of  theoretical  calculation  to  determine 
what  each  section  will  do  when  added  to  a  boiler. 
In  practice,  however,  it  is  frequently  found  that 


66 


CONSTRUCTION. 


each  section  beyond  reach  of  direct  fire  contact 
utterly  fails  to  do  what  in  theory  it  ought  to 
accomplish.  Good  boilers  made  by  responsible 
firms  are  within  the  reach  of  all  nowadays  and  it 


23.— Constructing  house  twenty -four  feet  wide;    second 
step,  making  beds  and  walks. 

hardly  pays,  therefore,  to  attempt  to  make  them 
out  of  coils  of  pipe.  By  the  time  the  pipe  is  pur- 
chased, put  together,  and  bricked  up,  and  the 
doors,  grates,  drafts,  and  other  necessary  con- 


COST    OF    BOILERS 


veniences  obtained,  the  cost  is  nearly  as  great 
as  when  a  first-class  boiler,  ready  to  set  tip  and 
start  off,  is  purchased. 

As  to  the  cost  of  boilers,  it  may  be  said  that  for 


24.— Constructing  house  twenty-four  feet  wide;   third  step, 
running  gutters  and  notching  plate  around  posts. 

every  five  hundred  square  feet  of  pipe  it  will  cost 
seventy-five  dollars  for  boiler  capacity  to  heat  it, 
or  fifteen  dollars  for  every  hundred  square 
feet  of  heating  surface.  Therefore  to  heat  a 


68  CONSTRUCTION. 

house  such  as  described,  namely,  twelve  by  one 
hundred  feet  and  seven  feet  to  ridge,  the  boiler 
would  cost  seventy  five  dollars.  For  each  addi- 
tional house  of  the  same  length  joined  to  the  next 
without  partition  walls,  an  additional  fifty  dollars 
should  be  added  for  boiler  capacity.  To  heat  a 
house  one  hundred  feet  long  and  twenty-four  feet 
wide,  such  as  described  as  the  second  type,  would 
require  a  boiler  costing  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars.  For  each  additional  house  separated 
from  the  other  by  an  alley  of  eight  feet,  it  would 
require  seventy-five  dollars  additional  for  boiler 
capacity.  When  the  amount  of  pipe  to  heat 
exceeds  twenty-five  hundred  square  feet  it  is  best 
to  have  more  than  one  boiler — in  fact  it  is  a 
question  whether  it  is  not  best  in  all  cases  to  have 
boilers  so  arranged  that  there  is  a  reserve  on  hand 
for  emergencies,  which  may  arise  at  any  time.  It 
is  also  a  question  as  to  whether  it  would  not  pay  to 
have  a  night  fireman  in  all  cases  where  the  number 
of  plants  exceeds  ten  thousand. 

This  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  the  total 
cost  of  the  types  of  houses  described.  Taking  one 
hundred  feet  as  the  length,  a  house  twelve  feet 
wide  and  seven  feet  to  the  ridge,  with  a  twenty 
inch  opening  on  sides,  would  cost  as  follows: 

40  posts  for  side  walls,  4x4  inches,  6  or  7  feet 

long,  at  35  cents  each $14  oo 

205  lineal  feet  s-piece  gutter,  6  inches  in  clear,  at 

$16.20  per  ioo feet 33  21 


COST    OF    HOUSES.  69 

1200  lineal  feet  of  sash  bars,  1^x2^  inches,  in  14 

foot  lengths,  at  Si. 50  per  100  feet $18  oo 

225  lineal  feet  2x8   inch   wall  plate  for  sides 

and  ends,  at  $7.20  per  100  feet 16  20 

96  lineal  feet  2x4  inch  rafters,  14  foot  lengths,  at 

£4.00  per  loo  feet 3  84 

64  lineal  feet  of  gable  rafters,  i%  x  2^,  at  $2.36  per 

ioo  feet i  51 

112  lineal  feet  of  2x6  inch  ridge,  at  $5.40 per  ioo 

feet 6  05 

ioo  lineal  feet  of  ridge  cap,  i^x  3M>  at  $2.20  per 

ioo  feet 2  20 

20  top  ventilators,  each  2  x  4 feet,  at  40  cents  each 

(5  cents  per  square  foot) 8  oo 

75  lineal  feet  of  headers  for  ventilators,  at  4  cents 

per  foot 3  40 

50  side  ventilators,  2x4  feet,  at  40  cents  each  ....    20  oo 
52  hemlock  posts  2x4  inches,  for  sides  of  beds, 

each  post  3  feet  long,  at  4  cents  each 2  08 

200  lineal  feet  hemlock  boards,  12x1  inch,  at  Si. 60 

per  ioo  feet,  for  sides  of  beds 3  20 

600  board  feet  rough  hemlock   for  walls  below 

plate,  at  Si. 50  per  ioo 9  oo 

300  board  feet  rustic  siding,  at  $1.40  per  ioo 4  20 

140  pairs  3  inch  strap  hinges  for  ventilators,  with 

screws,  at  5  cents  each 7  oo 

20  plain  lifting  rods  for  top  ventilators,  with 
plate,  staple,  and  pin,  each  rod  16  inches 
long,  made  of  %  inch  strap  iron,  at  6  cents 

each i  20 

50  ventilator  fasteners  for  side  ventilators,  at  8 

cents  each 4  oo 

noo  feet  of  i%  inch  wrought  iron  heating  pipe,  10 

returns,  at  6  cents  a  foot 66  oo 

225  feet  i>^  inch  pipe  for  flows,  at  8  cents  a  foot..    18  oo 
4  manifolds,  five  i%  inch  openings  on  side  and 
one  1^2  inch  opening  at  each  end,  at  65  cents 

each ...      2  60 

2  \%  inch  long  screws,  at  30  cents  each 60 

10  T.%  inch  long  screws,  at  25  cents  each 2  50 

Fittings 4  oo 


7O  CONSTRUCTION. 

i  hot  water  boiler,  complete  and  set  ready  for 
connection,  including  8  inch  chimney  of  terra 

cotta  pipe $75  oo 

50  feet  tongue  and  groove  yellow  pine  for  two 

doors,  at  $2.00  per  100  feet i  oo 

Shed  at  north  end  of  house  to  cover  boiler 
pit,  12 feet  long,  8  feet  wide,  8  feet  high  in 
front,  6  feet  at  back,  with  one  door  and 

boiler  pit,  complete 40  oo 

loo  pounds  of  white  lead,  at  5  cents  per  pound....      5  oo 
5  gallons  of  linseed  oil,  with  drier,  at  65  cents 

per  gallon 3  25 

100  pounds  of  putty,  at  3  cents  per  pound 3  oo 

Nails  and  hardware 4  oo 

30  boxes    10x15   glass,   double  thick,    second 

quality,  at  $2. 25  per  box 67  50 

8  boxes  14x16  glass  for  ventilators,  at  $2.75 

per  box 22  oo 

Water  pipes,  including  i  inch  main  and  ^  inch 

branches  for  spigots 12  oo 

Labor,  including  all  carpenter  work,  painting, 

pipe  fitting,  setting  boiler,  etc 125  oo 

Freight,  etc 50  oo 

Total #658  54 

In  reference  to  labor,  it  may  be  said  that  it 
is  necessarily  one  of  the  most  difficult  things  to 
estimate.  The  house  can  be  put  up  complete  by 
one  man  with  a  laborer  as  a  helper  in  twenty- 
five  days  or  less.  This  would  reduce  the  cost  of 
labor  to  less  than  one  hundred  dollars.  The 
amount  estimated  therefore  is  over  rather  than 
under  what  the  actual  cost  ought  to  be. 

The  cost  of  the  second  type  of  house — one 
hundred  by  twenty- four  feet — is  as  follows : 

52  posts,  4x4  inches,   6  or  7  feet  long,  at  35 

cents  each....  ..  Si8  20 


COST    OF    HOUSES. 


205  lineal  feet  of  gutter,  at  $16.20  per  loofeet  .....  $33  21 

650  board  feet  rough  hemlock  for  sides  and  ends 

below  plates,  at  Si.  50  per  100  feet  ..............      9  75 

300  board  feet  rustic  siding,  at  $1.40  per  100  feet..      4  20 
2400  lineal  feet  of  sash  bars  in  14  foot  lengths,  at 

$1.50  per  ioo  feet  ......................................    36  oo 

225  lineal  feet,  2x8  inch  wall  plate,  at  $7.20  per 

ioo  feet  ............................................  *  ......    16  20 

54  lineal  feet  of  gable  rafters,  at  2t3n  cents  per  foot      i  24 
112  feet  2x6  ridge,  at  $5.40  per  ioo  feet  ...............      6  05 

40  top  ventilators,  each  2x4  feet,  at  40  cents 

each  ........................................................    16  oo 

50  side  ventilators,  each  2x4  feet,  at  40  cents 

each  ........................................................    20  oo 

150  feet  headers  for  top  ventilators,  at  4  cents 

perfoot  ....................................................      6  oo 

600  board  feet  hemlock  boards  for  sides  of  beds, 

at  $i.  60  per  ioo  feet  ..................................      9  6o 

200  2x4  inch  hemlock  posts  for  sides  of  beds,  at 

5  cents  each  .............................................    10  oo 

90  pairs  of  hinges,  with  screws,  for  ventilators, 

at  5  cents  per  pair  with  screws  ..................      4  50 

Ventilating  machinery,  complete  ..................  ioo  oo 

1400  feet  i%  inch  heating  pipe,  at  8  cents  per  foot..  112  oo 

125  feet  2^  inch  heating  pipe,  at  15  cents  per  foot    18  75 

4  manifolds,  i#  inch  all  round,  at  75  cents  each      3  oo 

Long  screws  and  other  fittings  .....................    15  oo 

400  feet  of  i  inch  pipe  for  purlins  and  purlin  sup- 

ports, at  5  cents  per  foot  ...........................    20  oo 

150  feet  i#  inch  pipe  for  ridge  supports,  at  6 

cents  perfoot  .............  .  .............................      9  oo 

Fittings,  including  T's,  for  purlins  and  sup- 
ports .......................................................    12  oo 

1  boiler,  complete  and  set,  including  12  inch 

iron  or  terra  cotta  chimney  ........................  150  oo 

2  doors,  at  $2.00  each  .....................................      4  oo 

Shed  at  north  end  of  house,  10  feet  wide,  with 

glass  roof  as  already  described,  including 
boiler  pit  boarded  up  .................................  ioo  oo 

300  pounds  of  white  lead,  at  5  cents  per  pound....    15  oo 


72  CONSTRUCTION. 

10  gallons  linseed  oil,  with  drier,  at  65  cents  per 

gallon 6  50 

200  pounds  of  putty,  at  3  cents  per  pound 6  oo 

Nails  and  hardware 15  oo 

60  boxes  iox  15  glass,  at  $2.25  per  box 135  oo 

10  boxes  14x16  glass  for  ventilators,  at  $2.75 

per  box 27  50 

Water  pipes  including  two  i  inch  mains  and 

%  inch  laterals,  with  spigots 25  oo 

Labor  for  carpenter  work,  painting,  and  pipe 

fitting,  complete 250  oo 

Freight,  etc 75  oo 

Total $1289  70 


25.— Construction.    Putting  up  the  roof. 
We  have  already  referred  to   houses  made  of 


SASH    HOUSES.  73 

sash.  For  certain  purposes  houses  of  this  kind 
will  be  found  very  useful,  and  it  is  important, 
therefore,  to  have  sash  on  hand.  Sash  houses 
can  be  erected  quickly  and  can  be  taken  down 
when  necessary  and  the  sash  themselves  stored. 
A  sash  house  is  particularly  valuable  for  winter- 
ing cuttings  and  taking-  care  of  them  when  made 
in  spring.  Furthermore,  a  house  of  this  kind  will 
be  found  very  useful  for  growing  reserve  plants 
during  the  summer.  It  is  always  important  to 
have  on  hand  a  supply  of  good  plants  to  trans- 
plant where  others  are  lost  from  the  main 
houses.  A  sash  house,  constructed  with  open 
sides  and  ends,  can  be  used  for  growing  plants, 
and  the  latter  will  in  such  cases  do  much  better 
than  when  grown  in  frames  or  in  the  open  air. 
In  the  spring,  however,  when  the  main  houses 
become  crowded  with  boxes  of  cuttings,  the  sash 
house  will  be  found  exceedingly  valuable  for  stor- 
ing the  flats  of  young  plants.  In  such  cases  com- 
paratively little  heat  is  required,  owing  to  the 
lateness  of  the  season.  The  young  plants  are  at 
all  times  within  reach,  so  that  they  can  be  kept 
clean  and  fumigated  with  gas  if  it  is  found 
necessary  to  do  so. 

For  houses  of  this  character  three  by  six  sash 
are  the  most  advantageous.  Such  sash  made  of 
white  pine  can  be  bought  complete,  that  is, 
glazed  and  with  two  coats  of  paint,  for  two  dol- 
lars each.  The  woodwork  necessary  for  the  con- 


74  CONSTRUCTION. 

struction  of  such  a  house  would  cost  comparatively 
little.  Ordinarily  in  constructing  a  house  of  this 
kind  two  beds  are  first  made,  with  a  walk  fourteen 
inches  wide  between  them.  These  beds  are  made 
of  twelve  inch  hemlock  boards,  which  are  nailed  to 
two  by  three  inch  hemlock  posts  set  four  feet  apart. 
In  order  to  keep  the  boards  in  place  the  hemlock 
posts  are  driven  six  to  eight  inches  in  the  ground 
and  then  wired  to  opposite  posts  or  to  sticks 
driven  down  for  the  purpose.  The  total  width  of 
such  a  house  should  be  ten  feet,  including  the 
path.  The  path  being  fourteen  inches  wide, 
there  is  left  on  each  side  a  bed  four  feet  five 
inches  wide.  To  support  the  sash,  uprights,  made 
of  two  by  four  hemlock  studs,  are  nailed  to  the 
outside  boards  of  the  frame.  These  uprights  are 
placed  about  six  feet  apart  and  should  project 
two  feet  above  the  frame.  After  being  set  in 
this  way  and  nailed  to  the  boards,  the  tops 
should  be  sawed  at  the  same  slant  or  pitch  the 
roof  is  to  have.  A  two  by  three  stud  is  then 
nailed  to  the  tops  of  the  posts  for  a  plate  and 
upon  this  the  ends  of  the  sash  are  allowed  to  rest. 
The  sash  are  simply  brought  together  at  the  top 
and  nailed,  no  ridge  being  required.  They  are 
also  nailed  at  the  bottom  and  no  further  support 
is  necessary. 

Where  the  house  is  intended  for  late  spring 
and  summer  use  it  is  of  course  not  necessary  to 
provide  for  ventilation,  as  plenty  of  air  is  always 
circulating  through  the  sides  and  ends,  which  are 


SASH    HOUSES.  75 

left  open.  For  cuttings  in  the  spring,  however, 
where  some  heat  is  necessary,  the  sides  and  ends 
must  be  closed  up.  This  can  be  done  by  means 
of  rough  pine  or  hemlock  boards,  over  which  may 
be  nailed,  on  the  outside,  tarred  paper.  The  ends 
may  be  closed  in  the  same  way,  leaving  a  door 
at  one  end  for  entrance.  In  such  cases  it  is 
necessary  to  effect  ventilation  to  loosen  about 
every  third  sash  and  hinge  it  at  the  top.  Pieces 
of  leather  can  be  used  for  hinges  and  each  sash  may 
be  raised  and  propped  with  a  stick.  A  house  of 
this  kind  sixty  feet  long  should  have  on  each  side 
four  movable  sash  for  ventilating.  The  ventilat- 
ing sash  should  not  come  opposite  each  other, 
otherwise  they  cannot  be  hinged  at  the  top. 

In  order  to  heat  a  house  of  this  kind  for 
spring  use,  run  two  one  and  one-quarter  inch 
pipes  down  each  side,  to  be  fed  by  a  one  and  one- 
half  inch  flow  running  under  the  ridge  or  down  the 
sash  so  as  to  get  the  proper  fall.  Such  a  house 
may  be  used  for  growing  the  violets  through 
the  season  and  is  one  of  the  most  inexpensive 
that  could  be  erected.  In  such  a  case,  however,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  run  at  least  four  one  and  one- 
quarter  inch  pipes  down  each  side,  the  same  to  be 
fed  by  two  one  and  one-half  inch  flows. 

Such  a  house  for  spring  use  sixty  feet  in 
length,  would  cost  approximately  as  follows: 

40  sash,  3x6  feet,  at  $2.00  each $80  oo 

Lumber  for  sides,  ends,  and  beds 20  oo 

Nails,  hardware,  etc 2  oo 

Heating  pipes  and  heating  apparatus 50  oo 

Total $152  oo 


CONSTRUCTION. 


FRAMES.  77 

As  will  be  seen,  this  is  a  very  cheap  house, 
and  will  hold  from  forty  to  fifty  thousand  cuttings 
placed  in  flats.  If  planted  in  the  ordinary  way, 
i.  e.,  eight  by  nine  inches,  it  will  hold  about  one 
thousand  plants.  For  summer  use  alone,  that  is, 
without  heating  apparatus,  sides,  or  ends,  the 
house  can  be  erected  for  less  than  one  hundred 
dollars.  For  growing  plants  in  order  to  get 
flowers  throughout  the  winter  the  cost  will  be 
about  two  hundred  dollars,  on  account  of  the  extra 
heating  pipe  needed. 

If  a  shorter  house  than  the  one  here  described 
is  wanted  it  is  a  comparatively  easy  matter  to 
build  it.  A  house  thirty  feet  long  would  cost 
little  more  than  half  as  much,  so  it  will  be  seen 
that  there  are  a  number  of  advantages  in  having 
sash  for  use  in  this  way. 

CONSTRUCTION  OF  FRAMES. 

The  simplest  form  of  structure  for  growing 
violets  is  the  frame,  which  may  be  either  cold  or 
heated.  Frames  should  be  located  on  ground  that 
is  well  drained,  and  if  possible  should  have  some 
protection  from  north  winds.  It  is  customary  to 
place  them,  when  practicable,  at  the  foot  of  a  hill, 
but  if  this  cannot  be  done  it  is  desirable  to  have 
them  on  the  windward  side  of  trees  or  some 
similar  place  where  the  north  wind  will  not  sweep 
over  them. 

For  violets  the  frames  are  ordinarilv  made  on 


CONSTRUCTION 


FRAMES.  79 

top  of  the  ground,  that  is,  it  is  best  not  to  dig  the 
ground  out,  for  the  reason  that  water  is  apt  to 
accumulate  around  the  roots  and  the  plants  in 
consequence  will  suffer.  Rough  pine  boards  are 
used  for  constructing  the  frames.  The  back  of  the 
frame  is  usually  made  of  a  board  twelve  inches  wide, 
while  for  the  front  a  board  eight  inches  wide  is 
required.  Frames  always  face  the  south,  that  is, 
they  run  east  and  west.  The  frames  may  be  made 
either  continuous  or  in  sections.  When  continu- 
ous, posts  are  driven  into  the  ground  and  boards 
are  nailed  to  them,  so  that  the  frame  is  just  wide 
enough  to  take  a  sash  six  feet  long.  The  length 
may  be  indefinite  and  will  vary  according  to  the 
surroundings  and  nature  of  the  land.  Ordinarily 
it  is  preferable  to  have  several  lengths  of  frames 
separated  by  six  or  eight  feet  rather  than  to  have 
one  long  tier.  After  the  boards  have  been  erected 
they  should  be  braced  every  six  feet  by  a  one  by 
three  inch  strip  sunk  and  nailed  into  the  back  and 
front  boards  level  with  the  edge  of  each.  Frames 
so  constructed  will  cost  about  seventy-five  cents 
per  running  foot.  This  is  without  mats  or  shutters 
for  protecting  the  plants  in  very  cold  weather. 

Mats  may  be  made  of  straw  or  burlaps,  and 
shutters  may  be  constructed  of  wood,  or  if  not 
made  into  the  size  of  the  sash  themselves  ordinary 
twelve  foot  boards  can  be  used.  For  burlap  mats 
or  boards  the  additional  cost  of  frame  will  be 
about  fifteen  cents  per  running  foot,  which  makes 


8o 


CONSTRUCTION. 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 


FRAMES. 


the  total  cost  ninety  cents  per  foot.  Therefore  a 
frame  one  hundred  feet  long,  constructed  as 
described,  with  mats  or  boards  for  covering  in 
cold  weather,  will  cost  approximately  ninety  dol- 
lars. Such  a  frame  will  hold  about  twelve  hundred 
plants,  so  that  the  cost  of  space  per  plant  in  this 
case  will  be  approximately  eight  cents.  As  will 
be  seen,  this  is  the  cheapest  method  for  growing 
plants,  and  for  this  reason  many  adopt  it  in  the 
beginning.  There  are  so  many  disadvantages 
in  growing  plants  in  frames  however,  that  they 
should  not  be  used  where  it  is  possible  to  make  a 
house.  The  disadvantages  are  referred  to  in 
detail  in  other  places,  so  that  it  is  not  necessary 
to  name  them  here. 

The  question  of  mats  or  of  some  means  of  pro- 
tection during  excessively  cold  weather  is  of  great 
importance,  for  unless  such  protection  is  given  the 
plants  will  be  so  severely  frozen  as  to  be  made 
useless.  The  backs  and  fronts  of  the  frames  must 
also  be  protected  as  soon  as  cold  weather  sets  in. 
This  is  usually  accomplished  by  banking  up  soil 
or  manure  to  within  an  inch  or  an  inch  and  a  half 
of  the  top  of  the  frame.  The  most  common  prac- 
tice for  protecting  the  plants  is  using  ordinary 
boards  twelve  inches  wide  and  sixteen  feet  long. 
These  are  simply  laid  on  the  frames  when  cold 
weather  comes  on  and  serve  in  a  measure  to 
exclude  the  frost.  It  is  much  work,  however,  to 
put  these  boards  on  and  take  them  off,  for  this 


82 


CONSTRUCTION. 


FRAMES.  83 

must  be  done  promptly  whenever  the  conditions 
require  change.  Mats  are  somewhat  more  con- 
venient and  are  used  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.  The  cheapest,  and 
in  some  respects  the  best  form  of  mat  is  made  of 
ordinary  burlap  quilted  so  as  to  hold  between 
each  piece  about  two  inches  of  straw.  The  mats 
are  ordinarily  made  of  what  is  known  as  twelve 
ounce  burlaps,  forty-five  inches  wide,  which  costs 
about  six  cents  a  yard.  The  straw  between  the 
tackings  of  the  mat  is  about  two  inches  thick,  but 
where  the  tackings  are  made  it  is  only  about  half 
an  inch  thick,  as  the  string  is  pulled  tight  and 
tied  in  a  square  knot  to  prevent  all  danger  of  its 
getting  loose.  These  mats  complete  cost  about 
thirty-five  cents  each,  and  with  ordinary  wear  and 
tear  will  last  two  seasons.  Mats  similar  to  these 
are  now  offered  by  many  seed  dealers  at  very 
reasonable  prices,  so  that  it  hardly  pays  to  make 
them  at  home.  Straw  mats  are  also  used  to  a 
considerable  extent,  but  they  are  more  expensive 
than  the  others,  and  with  the  handling  they  must 
necessarily  get  will  not  last  very  much  longer. 

Mats  are  in  all  cases  preferable  to  boards. 
They  keep  the  plants  warmer  and  are  not  so 
unhandy  to  move  about.  The  boards  soon  warp, 
and  for  this  reason  will  not  lie  close  to  the  glass. 
They  are  furthermore  constantly  in  the  way  when 
laid  between  the  frames,  and  as  a  rule  cannot  be 
handled  readily  by  one  person.  Where  frames 


CONSTRUCTION. 


FRAMES.  85 

are  made  in  sections  it  is  the  practice  to  have  each 
section  long  enough  to  take  five  sash.  Usually  a 
space  of  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  is  left  between 
each  section.  In  summer  the  sash  are  taken  off 
and  the  frames  are  stored  where  the  weather 
will  not  affect  them.  There  is  no  particular 
advantage  in  making  frames  in  this  way. 

Frames  are  occasionally  heated  by  means  of 
hot  water  or  steam  pipes,  and  in  this  way  the  frost 
is  excluded.  The  ordinary  practice  in  heating 
with  hot  water  is  to  run  one  one  and  a  quarter 
inch  pipe  completely  around  the  frame.  The 
boiler  is  placed  at  a  point  several  feet  lower  than 
the  frame,  and  the  pipe  from  this  is  so  run  as  to 
give  a  slight  rise  to  the  end  of  the  frame  farthest 
from  the  boiler  and  a  slight  fall  from  the  far  end 
back  to  the  boiler.  The  flow  pipe  is  usually  placed 
against  the  board  on  the  north  side  of  the  frame, 
while  the  return  is  run  along  the  board  on  the 
south  side. 

A  boiler  with  sufficient  pipe  to  heat  a  frame 
one  hundred  feet  long  and  six  feet  wide  will  cost 
approximately  fifty  dollars.  While  there  are  some 
advantages  in  heating  frames  in  this  way  it  is  a 
question  whether  it  would  not  pay  in  the  end  to 
use  the  boiler  in  heating  a  house  made  of  sash,  as 
already  described — that  is,  having  the  sash  and 
the  boiler,  better  results  could  probably  be  ob- 
tained by  constructing  a  house  of  sash  so  that 
the  plants  would  be  accessible  at  all  times  and 


86  CONSTRUCTION. 

there  would  be   no   delay  or  trouble  in   case  of 
bad  weather  or  heavy  snow. 

A  summarized  comparison  of  the  cost  of  the 
different  structures  described  is  interesting,  and 
is,  in  round  numbers,  approximately  as  follows: 

For  the  first  type  of  house,  100  x  12  feet— 

Per  running  foot &?  oo 

Per  square  foot  of  bed  space 63 

Per  plant  grown  (2000  plants  in  each  house) 32 

For  the  second  type  of  house,  103x24  feet— 

Per  running  foot 12  oo 

Per  square  foot  of  bed  space 54 

Per  plant  (4000  plants  in  each  house) 27 

For  a  sash  house,  60  x  10  feet — 

Per  running  foot 3  25 

Per  square  toot  of  bed  space 38 

Per  plant 19 

For  a  cold  frame,  with  mats  of  straw— 

Per  running  foot 90 

Per  square  foot  of  bed  space 8 

Per  plant 4 

For  heated  frame — 

Per  running  toot i  40 

Per  square  foot  of  bed  space 12 

Per  plant 6 

It  will  be  seen  that  of  the  two  types  of  houses 
the  larger  one  is  proportionally  the  cheaper.  It 
also  has  other  advantages,  the  most  important 
being  that  crops  such  as  roses  and  carnations,  may, 
with  some  minor  changes,  be  grown  in  it.  The 
low  type  of  house,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  well 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  any  crop  but  the  violet. 
In  all  cases  there  would  be  a  saving  where  more 


COST    OF    HOUSES.  87 

than  one  house  is  built.  In  the  case  of  the  one 
hundred  by  twelve  foot  house,  without  intervening 
walls — 

3  can  be  erected  complete  for Si,6oo 

5  can  be  erected  complete  for 2,100 

There  is  not  so  much  difference  in  the  one 
hundred  by  twenty-four  foot  house — 

3  can  be  erected  complete  for $2,700 

5  (with   a    capacity     for    20,000  plants)    can  be 

erected  complete  for.. 4,200 


88  WATER. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


WATER  SUPPLY. 

An  abundant  supply  of  good  water  is  essential 
to  the  successful  cultivation  of  any  plant  and  the 
violet  is  no  exception  to  this  rule.  Water  is 
needed  not  only  to  keep  the  ground  moist,  but  to 
syringe  or  spray  in  order  to  keep  down  red  spider. 
For  ordinary  watering  no  force  is  required,  but 
for  spraying,  arrangements  must  be  made  to  get 
a  pressure  of  not  less  than  twenty  pounds  to  the 
square  inch  in  the  system  of  pipes.  Where  city 
water  is  to  be  obtained  and  the  rates  are  reason- 
able, the  simplest  plan  is  of  course  to  merely  get 
proper  connections  with  the  mains.  Where  this 
is  not  practicable,  however,  the  water  must  be 
obtained  either  from  wells  or  from  some  other 
source,  and  must  be  stored  in  a  tank  or  some  suit- 
able reservoir  to  be  drawn  upon  when  wanted. 
For  two  to  three  thousand  plants  a  tank  of  one 
thousand  gallons  capacity  will  be  sufficient,  and 
for  every  two  thousand  additional  plants  a  thou- 
sand gallons  more  of  reservoir  space  will  be 
required.  Thus  for  ten  thousand  plants  a  tank 
holding  not  less  than  five  thousand  gallons  should 
be  at  hand.  These  statements  apply  mainly  where 


WINDMILLS. 


windmills  are  used  for  pumping,  but  they  will 
also  hold  good  for  almost  any  kind  of  a  pumping 
plant,  as  allowance  must  always  be  made  for  break- 
downs and  other  accidents. 

A  windmill  offers  the  cheapest  power  for 
raising  water,  but  its  chief  drawback  is  the  uncer- 
tainty of  its  action.  With  a  reservoir  of  any  of 
the  capacities  given,  however,  this  objection  is  in 
a  measure  overcome,  as  it  seldom  happens  that 
there  are  more  than  three  or  four  days  without 
wind  and  the  supply  in  the  tank  will  usually  tide 
over  these  periods.  A  ten-foot  windmill,  with 
pump  and  tower,  and  five  thousand  gallon  tank  and 
tower  for  same  complete,  will  cost  about  three 
hundred  dollars.  This  outfit  ought,  under  all 
ordinary  conditions,  to  serve  for  from  ten  to 
fifteen  thousand  plants. 

As  already  mentioned,  windmills  have  the 
objection  of  being  uncertain  in  action.  They 
furthermore  do  not  give  the  facilities  for  spraying 
that  can  be  obtained  with  other  power.  To 
obtain  twenty  pounds  pressure,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  have  the  tank  raised  more  than  forty  feet 
above  the  beds,  and  this  is  not  always  practicable. 
Our  preference  is  therefore  for  an  economical 
power  that  is  ready  at  short  notice  and  at  all 
times  and  can  be  used  for  developing  pressure  as 
it  is  needed.  Such  a  machine  is  to  be  found  in 
many  of  the  gasoline  engines  now  on  the  market 
and  which  can  be  bought  at  very  reasonable 


90  WATER. 

figures.  A  two  horse -power  engine,  complete 
with  pump  for  either  deep  or  shallow  well,  can 
be  bought  for  two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  A  tank  of  three  thousand  gallons 
capacity  will  increase  the  cost  fifty  dollars,  so  that 
the  total  expense  of  an  outfit  of  this  kind  will  be 
no  more  than  a  windmill.  By  using  a  ten  gallon 
closed  steel  expansion  tank  for  an  air  chamber 
water  can  be  pumped  directly  into  the  pipe  system 
at  a  pressure  of  twenty-five  to  thirty  or  forty 
pounds  per  square  inch.  The  system  can  have  a 
safety  valve  at  some  convenient  point,  with  the 
overflow  so  arranged  as  to  go  into  the  main 
storage  reservoir.  With  this  plan  the  water  can 
be  drawn  from  the  reservoir  for  ordinary  watering, 
and  for  spraying  the  water  can  be  forced  by  the 
engine  and  pump  directly  into  the  pipes.  The 
cost  of  running  such  an  engine  is  merely  nominal. 
We  have  used  one  for  several  years  and  find  that 
one  dollar  a  month  for  gasoline  and  lubricating 
oil  will  give  us  five  hundred  gallons  of  water  a 
day.  A  thousand  gallons  of  water  a  day,  which 
is  enough  for  ten  to  fifteen  thousand  plants,  would 
probably  not  cost  more  than  two  dollars  or  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  month.  Such  gasoline 
engines  if  ignited  with  an  electric  spark  are 
perfectly  safe,  can  be  started  or  stopped  in  a 
moment,  and  with  ordinary  care  will  last  for 
years. 


TANKS.  91 

In  piping  houses  there  should  be  one  pipe 
along  each  path,  with  hose  connections  fifty  feet 
apart.  For  five  houses,  each  one  hundred  feet  by 
twelve  feet,  the  main  water  pipe  should  be  one 
and  one-half  inches  in  diameter,  with  an  inch 
lateral  in  each  house.  The  hose  connections 
should  be  three-quarters  of  an  inch,  as  it  does 
not  pay  to  use  one  inch  hose.  It  rarely  happens 
that  watering  goes  on  in  more  than  one  house 
at  a  time,  so  that  the  one  and  one-half  inch  main 
will  be  found  large  enough. 

We  do  not  believe  there  is  any  special  advan- 
tage in  heating  the  water  in  winter.  In  fact  so 
far  as  our  experience  goes  cold  water  is  just  as 
good  as  warm  water.  This  is  the  general  con- 
clusion where  careful  comparative  experiments 
have  been  made.  It  is  sometimes  an  advantage 
to  be  able  to  use  liquid  fertilizers,  and  for  this 
purpose  a  small  tank  of  five  hundred  to  eight 
hundred  gallons  should  be  provided.  It  should 
have  a  separate  pipe  system,  one-inch  pipe  being 
large  enough  all  round.  If  this  tank  can  be  set 
in  a  barn  loft  or  some  slightly  elevated  place 
where  its  contents  will  not  freeze  it  will  be  an 
advantage.  The  additional  cost  of  a  tank  of  this 
kind,  with  pipes  and  fittings,  will  be  about  seventy- 
five  dollars.  Such  a  tank  would  have  sufficient 
capacity  for  furnishing  liquid  food  for  eight  to 
ten  thousand  plants. 


92  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 


CHAPTER    V. 

PROPAGATING,    SELECTING,    PLANTING, 
CLEANING,  WATERING,    ETC. 

PROPAGATING. 

The  violet  may  be  propagated  in  a  number  of 
ways,  and  as  much  of  the  success  in  growing  the 
crop  depends  on  proper  methods  we  shall  go  into 
some  detail  as  to  the  various  practices  followed. 

One  of  the  most  common  methods  is  to  divide 
the  crown.  This  can  be  done  whenever  there  is 
sufficient  crown  to  divide,  but  the  common  way  is 
to  make  the  divisions  in  spring  after  the  flowering 
season  is  over.  The  plant  is  merely  lifted  with  a 
spade  or  trowel,  and  after  all  the  dirt  is  shaken  off 
the  roots  the  plant  is  pulled  apart  or  cut  apart,  as 
one  may  think  proper.  In  dividing  such  a  crown 
young  plants  of  various  kinds  will  be  found. 
Some  will  have  long,  "leggy"  stems,  with  many 
leaf  scars  upon  them;  some  will  be  short  and 
stocky;  some  will  have  hard,  woody  roots,  while 
others  will  show  white,  clean-growing  roots  cov- 
ered with  young  feeding  rootlets  and  root  hairs. 
It  is  the  general  practice  to  throw  away  the 
scrawny  plants  and  to  put  the  others  in  soil 


HANDLING    YOUNG    PLANTS. 


93 


or  sand,  or  in  a  mixture  of  both,  in  order  to  induce 
further  root  development  and  growth.  Some 
make  a  practice  of  putting  the  young  plants  in  a 
frame  outside,  setting  them  in  rows  about  three 
inches  apart  and  two  inches  distant  in  the  row.  If 


31.— Cuttings  with  hard,  wiry  roots,  from  divided  crowns. 
sand  is  used  about  four  inches  is  spread  on  the 
ground,  and  after  being  firmed  with  a  brick  or 
board  the  young  plants  are  set  in  with  a  dibble. 
Whitewashed  sash  is  kept  over  the  frame  and 


94 


CARE    OF    PLANTS. 


HANDLING    YOUNG    PLANTS.  95 

plenty  of  air  is  given  night  and  day  when  the 
weather  permits.  As  the  plants  are  never  put  out 
in  this  way  until  the  first  or  middle  of  April  no  heat 
is  required.  In  case  soil  is  used  care  is  taken  to 
add  about  three  inches  of  good  rotten  manure  to 
ordinary  garden  soil.  The  manure  is  thoroughly 
worked  in  and  the  ground  is  made  as  fine  as  it  is 
possible  to  make  it  with  rake  and  spade.  It  should 
never  be  packed.  When  smoothed  off  set  the 
plants  the  same  as  described  for  sand.  In  both 
cases  the  plants  must  be  watched  carefully  and 
syringed  every  bright  day  in  order  to  keep  down 
red  spider,  taking  care  not  to  over- wet  the  soil.  In 
six  or  eight  weeks  after  setting  in  frames  as 
described,  the  plants  will  be  ready  to  transplant  to 
the  place  where  they  are  to  make  their  summer 
growth. 

There  are  many  objections  to  propagating 
plants  in  this  way  and  the  best  growers  have  long 
since  abandoned  it.  In  dividing  the  crown,  and 
thereby  carrying  over  each  year  some  of  the  old 
roots,  various  diseases  affecting  the  former  are 
carried  over  also,  and  if  the  practice  is  continued 
from  year  to  year  the  tendency  is  to  gradually 
develop  a  weak,  non-resistant  stock.  The  grower 
in  such  cases  gradually  finds  himself  losing  his 
ability  to  get  good  plants  and  usually  satisfies  his 
conscience  by  saying  that  luck  is  against  him.  We 
have  examined  thousands  of  apparently  strong, 
vigorous  plants,  after  being  lifted  in  the  spring 


96 


CARE    OF    PLANTS. 


S3.— Common  form   of  cutting  from  divided  crown.    This 
will  make  a  good  plant  if  properly  rooted  in  soil. 


UNIVERSITY 


WHEN    TO    PROPAGATE.  97 

preparatory  to  division,  but  have  never  yet  found 
one  where  the  roots,  both  young  and  old,  did  not 
show  disease.  Of  these  diseases  we  shall  speak  in 
the  proper  place ;  suffice  it  to  say  here  that  they 
are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  gradually  continue 
their  insidious  work  after  the  young  plant  is  put 
out,  and  while  the  latter  may  appear  strong  when 
it  is  put  in  the  ground,  the  trouble  is  present,  and 
after  a  while,  when  an  extra  strain  comes,  the 
effects,  in  one  form  or  another,  will  surely  appear. 

Another  serious  objection  to  this  method  is 
that  it  must  necessarily  be  done  late,  after  bloom- 
ing time  is  over  or  nearly  over.  This  in  many 
sections  will  delay  the  work  of  propagation  to  such 
an  extent  that  if  unusual  weather  conditions  pre- 
vail through  April  or  May  much  injury  will  result 
to  the  young  plants.  If  a  hot  spell  of  weather 
comes  on,  as  it  often  does  in  the  early  part  of  May, 
the  young  plants  are  sure  to  suffer,  and  weak, 
stunted  stock  is  the  result.  We  have  never 
found  it  safe  to  put  in  stock  after 
April  fifteenth. 

Another  method  of  propagation,  and  one  open 
to  fewer  objections  than  the  last,  consists  in  cut- 
ting the  offshoots,  or  cuttings,  from  the  main 
plant  any  time  from  the  first  of  February  to  the 
middle  of  March.  In  this  case  the  main  plant  is 
not  disturbed,  but  the  )'oung  offshoots,  which  in 
good  plants  are  found  in  abundance,  are  cut  off, 
only  those  being  selected  which  show  young, 


g  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

white  roots.  These  roots  in  most  cases  have  never 
reached  the  soil,  but  are  sent  out  into  the  semi- 
dark,  moist  air,  made  so  by  the  plant  as  a  whole. 
A  good,  strong  crown  will  give  from  ten  to  twenty 
cuttings,  such  as  we  have  described,  between  the 
first  part  of  February  and  the  middle  of  March. 
As  soon  as  the  cuttings  are  removed  they  should 
be  thrown  into  a  box  with  a  lid  or  cover,  so  as  to 


34. — Lath  box,  or  fiat,  for  rooted  cuttings. 

keep  them  from  wilting.  When  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity has  been  cut  they  are  trimmed  up  and  placed 
in  soil  as  follows: 

Prepare  the  soil  several  weeks  in  advance,  us- 
ing four  parts  good  rotten  sod  and  one  part  finely 
rotted  manure.  Mix  thoroughly  and  screen  through 
an  ordinary  sand  screen  or  anything  having  a  simi- 
lar-sized mesh.  Keep  the  soil  where  it  cannot 
get  too  wet  and  never  handle  it  when  there  is  too 
much  moisture  present.  The  soil  being  prepared, 
make  a  lot  of  boxes,  using  for  the  ends  strips 
of  undressed  white  pine  one  inch  thick,  three 


BOXES    FOR    CUTTINGS.  99 

inches  wide,  and  fourteen  inches  long.  For  the 
sides  and  bottom  use  ordinary  laths  cut  exactly 
in  half.  In  making1  the  boxes  put  on  the  bot- 
tom first,  nailing  on  the  two  outside  laths  at  the 
start,  then  filling  in  between  with  others,  allowing 
about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  space  between  each  two 
pieces  of  lath.  The  bottom  being  made,  put  on  the 
sides.  Each  side  will  take  two  pieces  of  lath 
without  space  between  them.  The  boxes  are  now 
ready  to  fill  with  soil,  but  before  doing  this  spread 
on  the  bottom  of  each  box  a  thin  coating  of  wet 
sphagnum  moss  to  keep  the  soil  from  washing  out. 
Put  in  enough  soil  to  stand  about  half  an  inch 
higher  than  the  edges  of  the  box,  then  take  a  brick 
and  gently  press  the  soil  down  so  that  it  is  uni- 
formly about  half  an  inch  below  the  edges  of  the 
box.  Set  the  cuttings  with  a  dibble,  so  that  they 
will  average  one  hundred  to  the  box. 

In  one  box  put  thirteen  rows  of  eight  plants 
each,  in  another  twelve  rows  of  eight  plants  each, 
and  so  on.  After  setting  out  in  this  way,  the 
plants  are  shaded  and  watered  carefully  for  a  few 
days,  and  then  moved  outside  into  a  cold  frame  or 
preferably  kept  in  a  house  where  they  can  be 
looked  after  at  all  times.  If  put  outside  they 
should  be  kept  covered  with  a  whitewashed  sash. 
Where  sashes  are  at  hand  we  prefer  to  make  a 
temporary  house  out  of  them.  Such  a  house  has 
already  been  described  and  it  will  be  found  that 
the  plants  can  be  looked  after  much  better  in 


IOO  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

them  than  in  a  frame.  Moreover  they  will  grow 
better  because  the  air  can  be  kept  more  moist, 
diseases  and  insects  can  be  kept  down,  and  all  con- 
ditions necessary  for  growth  can  be  managed  to 
better  advantage. 

We  mention  the  ordinary  cold  frame  with 
sash  not  because  we  favor  it,  but  merely  to  show 
that  they  have  been  given  fair  trial  and  have  been 
found  wanting.  This  method  of  propagation  ap- 
plies particularly  to  the  Campbell  violet.  If  all  the 
conditions  are  carefully  watched,  fine  plants  can 
be  grown  in  this  way.  We  do  not  advise 
using  boxes  or  flats  with  close  bot- 
toms as  drainage  is  not  so  good  and 
the  roots  in  consequence  will  not 
develop  so  well.  Roots  need  air  at  all 
times,  and  where  this  is  given  through  proper 
soil,  proper  drainage,  and  proper  watering,  it  is 
astonishing  the  way  the  young  plants  start  off  and 
grow. 

The  third  method  of  propagation  and  the  one 
generally  followed  by  growers  of  Marie  Louise, 
consists  in  taking  cuttings  from  the  crowns  any 
time  between  the  middle  of  January  and  the  mid- 
dle of  March.  These  cuttings  in  many  cases  have 
already  made  some  air  roots,  but  these  should  all 
be  trimmed  off  at  the  same  time  the  cutting  proper 
is  trimmed  up.  After  trimming,  the  cuttings  are 
put  in  sand  to  root.  The  sand  is  an  important 
item.  It  should  be  moderately  coarse  and  very 


SAND     FOR    PROPAGATION.  IOI 

clean,  especially  as  regards  decaying  leaves  or  or- 
ganic matter  of  any  kind.  If  obtained  from 
creeks  or  small  streams  it  is  apt  to  have  too  much 
organic  matter  in  it.  River  sand  and  bank  sand 
are  the  best.  At  Potighkeepsie  most  of  the  propa- 
gating sand  is  obtained  from  banks  which  crop 
out  at  various  places,  and  it  is  almost  wholly  free 
from  organic  matter.  The  banks  are  really  veins 
or  strata  of  sand  deposited  ages  ago.  One  can- 
not be  too  particular  about  the  sand,  and  while  we 
cannot  describe  exactly  the  kind  to  use,  the  few 
hints  thrown  out  will  enable  the  man  of  intelli- 
gence to  properly  exercise  his  judgment.  W  e 
make  it  a  point  never  to  use  the 
sand  but  once,  as  it  is  cheaper  to  get 
new  sand  than  to  have  the  cuttings 
infected  with  disease. 

The  sand  may  be  put  in  boxes  as  already  de- 
scribed for  soil.  It  should  be  pressed  a  little  more 
firmly  than  the  soil  and  watered  before  putting  in 
the  cuttings.  The  cuttings  we  put  in  with  a  dib- 
ble the  size  of  a  lead  pencil,  two  hundred  cuttings 
to  a  box.  After  filling  the  boxes  the  cuttings 
should  be  looked  after  carefully  for  about  two 
weeks  or  more.  During  very  bright  days  they 
should  be  covered  with  single  sheets  of  news- 
paper, and  if  the  weather  is  warm  and  the  sun 
bright  the  papers  should  have  a  dash  of  water 
thrown  on  them  with  the  sprinkling  can  during 
the  heat  of  the  day.  Place  the  cuttings  in  a  sash 


102 


CARE     OF    PLANTS. 


CARE    OF    CUTTINGS.  103 

house  as  already  described,  or  if  there  is  room  in 
the  houses  proper  keep  them  there.  Never  allow 
them,  under  any  circumstances,  to  wilt,  for  if  they 
do  it  means  another  reduction  in  the  total  output 
of  salable  flowers.  Where  facilities  are  at  hand 
the  cuttings  can  be  rooted  in  a  cutting  bench, 
using  about  three  inches  of  sand  firmed  and 
watered.  Put  the  cuttings  in  rows  about  one  and 
one-half  inches  apart  in  the  row.  The  cutting 
bench  must  be  carefully  shaded  and  must  be  so 
arranged  that  currents  of  air  cannot  sweep  over 
it.  The  shed  house,  with  glass  roof  sloping  to  the 
north,  already  described,  forms  an  excellent  place 
for  such  a  bench.  It  requires  four  to  eight  weeks 
for  cuttings  put  in  sand  as  described  to  root  prop- 
erly. They  may  stay  in  longer  than  this  without 
injury,  but  as  soon  as  they  are  well  rooted  they 
should  be  transferred  to  lath  boxes  containing 
soil,  one  hundred  to  a  box.  If  there  is  space  in 
the  greenhouse  the  rooted  cuttings  may  be  set  in 
one  of  the  beds.  Set  in  rows  two  inches  apart 
and  one  inch  in  the  row,  using  a  dibble  made  by 
trimming  to  a  point  a  piece  of  broom  handle  six 
or  eight  inches  long.  Never  use  old  soil 
for  these  cuttings,  that  is,  soil  that 
has  once  been  used  for  violets.  It 
costs  very  little  extra  labor  to  get  fresh  soil  for 
the  purpose  and  the  labor  will  pay  a  hundred  fold. 
The  principal  object  of  this  transplanting  is 
to  get  good,  strong,  clean  roots.  We  have  had 


104 


CARE    OF    PLANTS. 


PROPAGATING.  105 

excellent  success  in  this  matter  by  throwing  the  old 
soil  out  of  a  bed  to  a  depth  of  eight  inches  and  then 
putting  in  about  two  inches  of  coarse  coal  ashes, 
broken  clinkers,  and  the  like.  On  top  of  this  put 
two  inches  of  sifted  coal  ashes,  and  finally  four 
inches  of  good  soil,  made,  mixed,  and  sifted  as 
already  described.  The  roots  run  down  into  the 
ashes  and  come  out  clean,  white,  and  beautiful, 
and  covered  with  root  hairs. 

Growers  attempt,  once  in  a  while,  to  set 
directly  from  the  sand  to  the  beds  where  the 
plants  are  to  make  their  growth.  We  have  tried 
this  plan,  but  cannot  recommend  it,  as  the  risk 
in  handling  the  plants  is  too  great.  If  cloudy, 
damp  weather  follows  after  the  planting  no  harm 
may  result,  but  if  it  should  be  bright  and  warm  the 
plants  will  suffer  in  spite  of  all  that  can  be  done. 
There  are  other  objections  to  this  plan,  but  they 
need  not  be  mentioned  here,  as  the  best  growers 
do  not  follow  the  practice  at  all. 

We  have  now  described  the  three  principal 
methods  followed  in  propagation.  The  last  we 
recommend  to  those  who  have  had  considerable 
experience  and  who  are  growing  Marie  Louise. 
Our  preference  is  for  a  combination  of  the  second 
and  third  methods.  In  both  cases  the  cuttings  are 
taken  from  the  plants  as  they  stand  in  the  bed. 
Those  which  have  good,  clean,  white  roots  can  be 
put  in  the  soil  as  already  described,  but  those 
which  are  just  as  good  in  every  way  except  as 


IO6  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

to  the  number  of  roots,  may  have  all  the  latter 
cut  off  and  made  to  make  new  ones  in  the  sand. 
Following  this  practice,  about  half  the  cuttings  go 
into  the  soil  and  half  into  sand.  This  practice 
is  especially  commendable  where  Campbells  are 
grown,  but  for  Marie  Louise,  as  already  pointed 
out,  the  sand  method  throughout  is  believed  to  be 
the  best. 

The  plants  when  placed  in  soil  as  already  de- 
scribed are  to  stand  there  until  they  are  finally 
set  in  the  beds,  which  south  of  New  York, 
Pittsburg,  and  Chicago  should  not  be  later  than 
the  first  of  June,  North  of  this  they  may  run  till 
the  middle  of  June,  or  at  the  very  latest  the  first 
of  July.  Leaving  out  the  first  practice  entirely, 
it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  second  the  young  plants 
stand  in  soil-filled  flats  or  boxes  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  days  and  then  are  set  directly 
where  they  are  to  grow  for  flowering.  In  the 
third  practice  the  young  plants  are  in  sand  about 
fifty  days,  when  they  are  transferred  to  soil  where 
they  remain  until  planting  time,  which  runs, 
according  to  locality,  from  the  first  of  June  to  the 
first  of  July.  Any  one  by  managing  properly  and 
having  not  over  twenty  thousand  plants  ought  to 
be  able  to  do  all  his  planting  in  fifteen  to  twenty 
days.  In  our  section,  Washington,  we  prefer 
to  plant  between  the  first  of  May  and  the  first 
of  June. 

We  have  omitted  the  practice  of  fall  propa- 


FALL-MADE    CUTTINGS.  1OJ 

gation,  but  it  will  be  well  to  discuss  it  briefly  as 
some  of  the  older  growers  believed  in  it  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  the  only  way  the  stock 
could  be  maintained  in  a  healthy  condition. 
Their  argument  was  that  the  violet  is  a  plant 
that  needs  a  period  of  rest,  and  that  propa- 
gating in  spring  just  after  the  plant  had  been 
pushed  through  winter  flowering  is  contrary  to 
nature's  methods  of  increasing  the  plants.  It  is 
true  that  the  violet  makes  its  principal  effort  in 
the  way  of  sending  out  runners  in  the  fall,  and 
theoretically  this  woiild  be  the  proper  time  to 
propagate,  as  good  wood  can  then  be  had  in  abun- 
dance. Practically,  however,  there  are  many 
objections  to  the  plan.  Adopting  it  necessitates 
carrying  the  young  plants  through  the  winter, 
and,  no  matter  how  much  care  is  exercised  in 
watching  them,  they  nearly  always  suffer  either 
from  being  kept  too  cold  or  too  warm,  too  dry 
or  too  moist.  In  other  words,  despite  every 
precaution  they  get  stunted  or  checked  so  severely 
that  many  of  them  never  rally  from  the  shock, 
consequently  do  not  prove  as  vigorous  as  cuttings 
made  in  the  spring  and  properly  handled. 

Another  question  to  consider,  and  one  that 
we  have  found  of  much  importance,  is  that 
during  their  long  stand  in  flats  or  beds  they  are 
apt  to  become  infected  with  one  or  more  of  the 
several  stem  and  root  diseases,  and  while  these 
may  not  be  plainly  evident  in  the  spring,  they 


108  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

are  present,  nevertheless,  and  will  develop  and 
do  serious  injury  later.  There  is  this  to  be  said, 
however,  that  choosing  between  the  methods 
of  division  after  blooming  time  and  propagat- 
ing in  the  fall,  we  would  prefer  the  latter,  because 
we  believe  that  better  results  will  follow.  Finally, 
in  using  the  fall-rooted  plants  there  is  always 
the  danger  of  the  plants  getting  too  big.  It 
is  as  bad  to  have  a  plant  too  big  as  it  is  to  have 
it  too  small,  and  if  set  too  early  or  started  too  early 
the  growth  will  become  so  heavy  in  hot  weather 
that  it  will  be  found  impossible  to  keep  down 
diseases  and  insects.  If  a  grower  has  everything 
at  his  disposal  in  the  way  of  houses  and  facilities 
for  handling  the  young  plants  it  would  probably  be 
well  to  propagate  some  of  the  stock  in  the  fall, 
but  if  he  has  to  put  up  with  the  ordinary  facilities 
he  had  better  leave  fall  cuttings  alone.  Fall  prop- 
agating really  means  a  special  house  for  the 
proper  care  and  handling  of  the  young  plants 
through  a  period  of  six  or  eight  months — a  hand- 
ling so  that  they  will  not  grow  too  much  or  too 
little  (problems  that  are  beyond  the  reach  of  most 
men).  We  have  now  described  the  mere  act  of 
propagating  or  increasing  the  number  of  plants 
and  have  next  to  consider  the  most  important 
question  connected  with  violet  growing,  namely, 
the  selection  of  stock  with  a  view  of  increasing 
vigor  and  productiveness. 


SELECTION    OF    STOCK.  1 09 

SELECTION    OF    STOCK    FOR    VIGOR    AND    PRODUC- 
TIVENESS. 

To  grasp  this  question  fully  we  must  first 
realize  that  the  violet,  like  other  plants,  is  a  plastic 
organism — that  within  a  certain  range  it  has  power 
to  change  or  to  adapt  itself  to  the  conditions  which 
surround  it.  This  plasticity  or  adaptability  of  the 
plant  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  for  if  all  its 
functions  were  fixed  absolutely  it  could  not  suffer 
any  change  for  long,  however  slight.  We  find, 
therefore,  in  practice,  that  plants  grown  in  one 
section  and  moved  to  another  behave  differently — 
it  may  be  in  the  matter  of  time  of  blooming,  quan- 
tity of  flowers,  character  of  foliage,  size  or  color  of 
flowers,  length  of  flower  stem,  or  in  many  other 
directions.  Recognizing  this  fact,  and  those  that 
are  naturally  correlated  with  it,  we  have  the 
important  practical  conclusion  that  the  only 
way  for  a  man  to  attain  the  maximum 
results  from  the  plants  is  to  work 
steadily,  intelligently,  and  rationally 
toward  the  end  of  developing  a  strain 
which  will  fit  the  conditions  which 
practice  and  judgment  enable  him  to 
provide.  Of  course,  the  man  himself  is  limited 
in  this  matter,  but  he  should  endeavor  first  of  all 
to  find  out  what  his  limitations  are  and  then  con- 
centrate his  efforts  in  the  field  where  there  is  hope 
of  practical  results.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
limitations  are  more  fancied  than  real  and  where 


no 


CARE    OF    PLANTS. 


! 


FIXING    AN    IDEAL.  Ill 

the  work  is  intelligently  undertaken  and  carried 
out  it  is  astonishing  what  power  is  put  within 
the  grasp. 

It  is  seldom  that  violet  growers  average  more 
than  fifty  flowers  to  the  plant  for  the  season. 
There  is  no  good  reason  why  this  number  should 
not  be  increased  to  one  hundred  or  even  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  flowers  per  plant  without  additional 
room,  additional  heat,  additional  fertilizers,  or  ad- 
ditional work  of  any  kind  except  in  the  care  nec- 
essary to  keep  up  the  stock  by  proper  selection. 
How  then  should  this  selection  be  started,  and 
how  should  it  be  continued  in  order  to  reap  the 
full  benefit  from  it  ?  To  start  at  the  beginning, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  first  stock  of  plants,  no 
matter  where  obtained,  will  show  differences : 
Some  will  be  small,  some  large ;  some  will  give 
long-stemmed  flowers,  others  flowers  with  short 
stems;  some  will  show  a  tendency  to  throw  flow- 
ers off  in  color;  some  will  have  a  straggling  habit 
of  growth,  others  will  be  compact,  with  large 
leaves  on  long  petioles.  As  the  season  for  flower 
picking  arrives  these  plants  should  be  carefully 
gone  over  and  the  grower  should  fix  in  his  own 
mind  his  ideal  or  type.  It  does  not  take  long  to 
learn  what  plants  more  closely  approximate  the 
type.  Out  of  one  thousand  plants  there  may  not 
the  first  year  be  more  than  a  hundred  that  show 
the  characteristics  he  is  after.  We  cannot  put 
down  in  black  and  white  what  these  characteristics 


112 


CARE    OF    PLANTS. 


.METHOD    OF    SELECTION.  113 

are,  except  in  the  most  general  way,  The  plants 
should  be  vigorous  and  give  every  evidence  that 
they  are  growing.  They  should  have  a  compact, 
symmetrical  appearance.  The  leaves  should  be 
glossy,  green,  large,  and  on  long  petioles,  and 
shotild  feel,  when  you  run  your  hand  over  them, 
like  living,  growing  things,  and  not  like  they  were 
made  of  leather  or  cloth.  If  a  hundred  or  less 
of  such  plants  are  found  stake  them  before 
flowering  commences,  and  to  each  stake  tie  an 
ordinary  shipping  tag.  Push  the  stake  well  into 
the  soil  so  that  it  will  not  interfere  with  working  the 
beds,  and  tie  the  tag  on  securely  so  that  it  will  not 
come  off  or  get  lost.  Each  plant  is  then  given  a 
number,  which  is  never  duplicated.  We  give  one 
hundred  plants  as  the  limit  for  the  first  year's 
work,  for  this  is  about  as  many  as  one  can  well 
handle  until  more  experience  is  gained.  There 
would,  therefore,  be  one  hundred  numbers — from 
one  to  one  hundred.  Every  time  a  tagged  plant 
is  reached  while  picking,  count  the  number  of 
flowers  and  put  down  on  the  tag  the  date  and 
number  of  flowers  picked.  We  presume  there  will 
be  some  who  upon  reading  this,  will  say:  "I  have 
not  the  time  to  do  this  and  what  is  the  good  of  it 
all  anyway  ? "  These  are  the  men  who  insist  that 
luck  governs  the  question,  and  while  they  will 
always  be  found  they  are  constantly  vexed  with 
ups  and  downs  and  sooner  or  later  quit.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  takes  very  little  time  to  do  what 


114  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

has  been  outlined  and  anyone  who  will  follow  the 
practice  for  three  years  will  be  willing  to  hire 
additional  help,  if  necessary,  to  keep  up  the  work, 
because  he  will  see  that  it  pays. 

When  the  season's  work  is  over  it  will  be  found 
that  the  tagged  plants  show  many  interesting  facts. 
They  show  the  total  number  of  flowers  picked 
and  the  number  picked  each  month,  and  they 
show  too  the  relation  of  flower  yield  to  weather 
conditions  if  one  wishes  to  carry  the  matter  into 
this  field.  Some  plants  have  grown  fifty  flowers, 
others  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Some 
will  give  the  greatest  number  of  flowers  in  Decem- 
ber and  January,  others  in  February  and  March. 
Here  then,  are  practical  points  that  should  at  once 
be  taken  advantage  of.  Vigor,  health,  compact- 
ness of  growth  being  equal,  we  would  want  our 
plants  to  yield  an  many  flowers  as  possible,  and  at 
a  time  when  they  are  worth  the  most  money ;  so 
that  of  two  plants  both  of  which  give  a  hundred 
flowers,  we  would  give  the  preference  to  the  one 
that  yields  the  most  flowers  during  December  and 
January  rather  than  to  the  one  that  gives  the 
greater  yield  during  February  and  March.  Of 
the  pedigree  stock  we  would  eliminate  all  plants 
where  the  yield  the  first  year  dropped  below 
seventy-five  flowers.  The  second  year  we  would 
eliminate  all  plants  that  failed  to  give  more  than 
ninety  flowers,  and  the  third  year  all  those  that 
failed  to  give  a  hundred  good  blooms. 


IMPORTANCE    OF    SELECTION.  115 

Each  plant  can  be  counted  on  to  give  not  less 
than  ten  first-class  cuttings,  so  that  if  only  fifty 
plants  come  up  to  the  standard  the  first  year  they 
will  give  at  least  five  hundred  good  rooted  cut- 
tings for  the  second  season.  Each  of  these  plants 
should  carry  the  number  of  their  parent,  with  an 
additional  mark  to  indicate  the  season;  for  ex- 
ample, the  ten  plants  from  number  one  the  first 
year  would  all  be  recorded  as  plants  a, 
next  year  the  plants  from  these  would  be  pi  an  ts 
b,  and  so  on.  If  the  work  is  carried  out  well 
the  first  year,  three  hundred  plants,  repre- 
senting the  best  of  the  five  hundred,  can  be 
staked  the  second  season.  These  receive  their 
specified  numbers,  are  watched  as  before,  and  will 
give  from  one  thousand  to  one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred good  plants  for  the  next  season's  crop. 
Working  in  this  way,  and  of  course  keeping  clear- 
ly before  one  the  importance  of  looking  after  every 
detail  of  culture,  the  average  yield  can  be  brought 
up  to  the  one  hundred  mark,  where  it  may  be  kept 
as  long  as  the  proper  vigilance  and  intelligence 
are  exercised  in  the  work.  We  are  satisfied 
that  two-thirds  of  the  failures  in 
growing  violets  come  about  from  not 
fully  recognizing  the  principles  we  have 
here  set  forth.  Left  to  itself,  or  if  not 
properly  assisted,  the  tendency  of  the  violet  is  to 
retrograde,  partly  no  doubt  because  it  has  been 
grown  so  long  under  abnormal  conditions  and 


Il6  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

partly  for  other  reasons,  which  it  is  not  necessary 
to  discuss  in  detail  here.  We  find  in  it  very  much 
the  condition  of  a  loaded  car  on  a  steep  grade.  It 
is  always  ready  to  go  down  hill  the  moment  we 
take  off  the  brake  or  remove  the  block  from  the 
rail.  The  further  it  goes  the  more  difficult  it  is  to 
stop,  and  if  we  do  not  put  forth  some  effort  there 
will  be  a  general  smash-up  sooner  or  later.  On 
the  other  hand,  by  dint  of  much  labor  we  can 
slowly  push  up  grade,  but  we  are  always  con- 
fronted with  the  fact  that  the  moment  we  lose 
our  watchfulness  the  down-hill  motion  commences, 
and  away  goes  everything  we  have  gained. 

The  author's  work  is  done  when  he  points  out 
the  facts  and  principles  involved,  and  it  remains 
for  the  reader  to  do  the  rest. 

PLANTING. 

We  have  pointed  out  in  the  previous  chapter 
how  to  prepare  the  soil  and  have  shown  in  the 
first  part  of  this  chapter  how  the  plants  are  to  be 
cared  for  until  the  time  for  planting.  As  already 
stated,  we  prefer  to  get  our  plants  out  permanent- 
ly between  the  first  of  May  and  the  first  of  June  in 
latitudes  south  of  New  York,  but  north  of  this 
planting  may  be  delayed  fifteen  or  twenty  days. 
Having  the  soil  stacked  and  ready  near  the  houses 
the  first  operation  is  to  throw  out  the  old  plants 
and  remove  six  inches  of  the  soil  from  the  beds. 
The  old  plants  are  merely  lifted  with  a  spade,  the 
earth  is  shaken  off,  and  then  they  are  thrown  out- 


OF 

UNIVERSITY 


PLANTING.  117 

side  into  a  heap  to  be  hauled  away  to  the  dump 
or  burned.  If  hauled  away  we  want  to  get  them 
as  far  away  from  the  houses  as  possible.  In  any 
event  they  should  never  be  allowed  to  lie  around 
and  rot  and  decay. 

The  soil  is  best  handled  in  wheelbarrows.  It 
is  hauled  out  and  thrown  in  a  heap  close  by, 
to  be  finally  disposed  of  when  more  time  is  at 
hand.  When  the  six  inches  of  soil  is  taken  out 
all  boards  are  examined  and  if  any  are  found 
rotted  they  are  taken  out  and  new  ones  put  in. 
The  beds  are  next  spaded  up  with  a  fork  and 
air-slacked  lime  is  thrown  over  the  ground  in  suffi- 
cient quantity  to  thoroughly  whiten  it.  The  new 
soil  is  then  brought  in  with  the  wheelbarrows  and 
dumped  into  the  beds.  Enough  soil  is  brought  in 
to  fill  the  beds  just  even  with  the  boards.  I  n 
no  case  is  the  soil  rolled,  walked  on, 
or  packed  in  any  way.  When  sufficient 
soil  is  in  the  bed  the  latter  is  leveled  off  with  a 
rake,  all  clods,  stones,  large  sticks,  etc.,  being 
thrown  out.  Finally  the  beds  are  made  smooth 
and  level  by  means  of  a  straight-edged  board  four 
inches  wide  and  not  longer  than  the  width  of  the 
bed. 

The  bed  is  now  ready  to  be  marked  off. 
This  can  be  done  in  a  number  of  ways,  the  main 
object  being  to  get  the  plants  set  as  nearly  in 
straight  rows  as  possible,  eight  by  nine  inches 
apart.  It  often  happens  that  the  board  marking 


llS  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

the  walk  is  not  straight  and  if  the  plants  are 
set  straight  by  a  line  they  appear  crooked  on 
account  of  the  board,  as  that  is  what  the  eye 
usually  follows.  To  keep  the  rows  straight  with 
the  board  use  a  simple  T  square  made  of  a  piece 
of  four  inch  white  pine.  By  using  the  board  of 
the  walk  as  a  base  for  the  square  all  the  rows  come 
in  line  with  the  walk,  and  at  least  appear  more 
pleasing  to  the  eye  even  if  they  are  not  mathe- 
matically straight.  By  means  of  a  saw  permanent 
lines  are  marked  off  nine  inches  apart  on  the 
board  forming  the  edge  of  the  walk.  Similar  lines 
are  made  eight  inches  apart  on  the  square.  The 
square  can  then  be  moved  rapidly  along  over  the 
ground  and  a  hole  made  with  a  dibble  where  the 
plant  is  to  be  set.  We  usually  try  to  have  the  plants 
set  back  at  least  five  inches  from  the  edge  of  the 
walk,  so  it  takes  a  little  figuring  at  first  to  tell  how 
to  divide  the  space  across  the  bed.  As  soon  as  the 
bed  is  marked  the  plants  are  set,  as  better  results 
are  obtained  in  this  way  than  where  the  ground  is 
allowed  to  settle.  In  case  it  is  not  practicable  to 
plant  at  once  and  if  the  ground  settles  too  much 
before  planting  can  be  done,  the  beds  should  be 
freshly  turned  up  with  a  fork  and  then  raked  down 
and  smoothed  as  before  described. 

The  plants  are.  cut  out  of  the  boxes  or  bed 
where  they  have  been  growing  and  all  dead  leaves 
and  buds  are  trimmed  off.  They  are  then  carried 
to  the  bed  where  they  are  to  be  planted  and  laid 


PLANTING.  119 

opposite  each  mark  made  by  the  dibble.  The 
advantage  of  having1  the  stock  plants  in  light  flats 
comes  in  here,  for  the  flats  can  be  carried  to  the 
bed  and  the  plants  cut  out  there — we  say  cut 
out,  for  we  usually  use  a  putty  knife  for  the 
purpose.  This  is  irst  run  down  between  the  rows 
of  plants  in  the  box,  after  which  a  cut  is  made 
between  each  two  plants.  In  this  way  each  plant 
comes  out  with  a  square  piece  of  soil  and  the  roots 
are  disturbed  very  little.  One  good  man  can  set 
as  fast  as  two  or  three  can  prepare  the  plants  as 
described.  Where  the  reach  is  less  than  five  feet 
the  plants  can  be  set  from  the  walk,  but  if  the 
beds  are  so  wide  that  one  cannot  reach,  planting 
is  done  from  a  board  laid  across  the  bed,  but  not  so 
that  it  will  compact  the  soil.  Use  a  board  twelve 
inches  wide  and  work  backwards  in  planting. 
Adopting  this  plan  two  rows  can  be  planted  with- 
out moving  the  board.  The  planting  itself  is  an 
important  item,  and  many  plants  will  be  lost  and 
others  injured  unless  care  is  exercised.  The 
grower  himself  had  better  attend  to  this  matter. 
We  have  never  found  anything  better  than  the 
fingers  for  planting.  A  slight  hole  is  made  and 
the  square  of  earth  containing  the  young  plant  and 
its  roots  is  pushed  into  the  loose  soil.  A  move- 
ment of  the  hand  around  the  plant  levels  the  soil 
and  firms  it  and  the  work  is  done.  Having  the 
beds  filled  and  leveled  and  the  plants  furnished, 
one  man  can  mark  the  soil  and  set  three  hundred 


120 


CARE    OF    PLANTS. 


it 

S3    O 


SHADING    YOUNG    PLANTS.  121 

plants  an  hour.  If  the  day  is  warm  and  bright 
it  will  be  necessary  to  water  the  plants  as  they  are 
put  out.  One  can  plant  for  an  hour,  however,  and 
then  water,  allowing  the  water  to  run  gently  from 
the  end  of  the  hose,  and  following  the  rows  so  as 
not  to  plow  up  the  ground.  At  this  season  of  the 
year  it  is  of  course  necessary  to  have  all  venti- 
lators and  doors  open  in  order  to  get  plenty  of  air. 
The  glass  also  should  be  well  shaded  with  white- 
wash or  with  white  lead  mixed  with  turpentine, 
either  one  to  be  put  on  with  a  brush.  We  have 
used  laths  for  shad  ing,  but  abandoned  them  for  the 
reason  that  they  interfere  with  the  light  in  such  a 
way  as  to  hinder  growth.  The  shading  should  be 
only  moderately  heavy,  but  it  should  be  kept  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  same  ihroughout  the  en- 
tire year,  that  is,  winter  and  summer  we  have 
found  it  an  advantage  to  shade,  but  this  may  not 
hold  good  further  north  where  sunshine  is  less 
abundant. 

All  of  our  directions,  it  will  be  seen,  apply  to 
plants  grown  under  glass  throughout  the  year. 
We  do  not  recommend  field  planting  of  violets 
anywhere,  that  is,  if  it  is  intended  to  grow  them 
for  flowering  in  houses  the  following  winter.  It 
is  very  important,  however,  to  have  some  reserve 
plants,  for  there  is  always  more  or  less  loss  in  the 
beds.  Here  again  the  cheap  frame  house  comes 
into  good  use,  for  it  is  well  adapted  for  growing 
reserve  plants.  It  is  best  to  count  on  a  loss  of  ten 


122 


CARE    OF    PLANTS. 


PLANTING    IN     FRAMES.  123 

per  cent,  although  this  is  heavier  than  it  ought  to 
be.  For  ten  thousand  plants,  therefore,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  have  a  reserve  of  at  least  one 
thousand  plants  to  draw  upon. 

When  frames  alone  are  used  the  plants  can  be 
set  in  two  ways:  First,  the  frames  themselves  can 
be  put  down  where  they  are  to  stay  and  the  plants 
set  in  rows  eight  by  nine  inches,  as  already 
described;  second,  the  frames  can  be  made,  as 
already  described,  in  sixteen  foot  lengths  and 
stored  until  wanted.  The  plants  are  then  set 
directly  in  the  open,  nine  inches  apart  in  the  row, 
the  rows  being  just  long  enough  so  that  the 
frame  will  fit  over  them.  There  are  so  many 
objections  to  these  methods  and  the  obstacles  to 
overcome  are  so  great  that  we  do  not  recommend 
them  except  in  violet  farming.  Shade  here  is  of 
the  greatest  importance  during  the  summer  and 
where  the  plants  are  grown  in  open  frames  or 
without  frames  this  can  only  be  brought  about  by 
using  lath  screens  or  something  similar.  The 
screens  when  made  should  not  be  too  dense  and 
should  be  raised  at  least  four  feet  above  the 
plants.  In  southern  California  violets  are  grown 
the  whole  season  with  no  other  protection  than 
screens,  made  of  laths,  raised  about  eight  feet 
above  the  plants.  The  flowers  are  shipped  to  Los 
Angeles  and  other  points  and  are  of  fair  quality 

After  the  planting  is  completed  and  every- 
thing about  the  place  has  been  cleaned  up  and  put 


124  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

in  shape,  the  serious  work  of  caring  for  the  plants 
commences. 

CLEANING,    WATERING,    SYRINGING,    MULCHING,    AND 
FEEDING. 

Eternal  vigilance  is  necessary  in  the  matter 
of  cleaning.  We  try  to  get  over  the  plants  at 
least  once  a  week,  cutting  off  all  yellow  and  dying 
leaves  and  gently  stirring  the  surface  of  the  soil 
with  the  fingers.  All  weeds,  too,  are  pulled  up  or 
torn  up  in  the  stirring.  In  cleaning  we  never  use 
anything  but  a  knife,  as  pulling  the  leaves  off  is  a 
bad  practice  for  it  is  apt  to  tear  the  bark  and 
open  the  way  for  the  attacks  of  fungi.  Toward 
the  middle  of  August  the  runners  will  begin  to 
come,  and  they  must  be  cut  off  as  soon  as  possible. 
Many  abortive  flowers  will  appear  too  and  they 
must  not  be  allowed  to  stay  on  the  plant.  In 
cleaning  we  have  made  it  an  invariable  practice 
to  throw  all  dead  leaves,  runners,  etc.,  into  a  box 
or  basket,  emptying  these  into  a  barrel  or  box  out- 
side at  suitable  intervals.  We  do  not  believe  it 
wise  to  throw  the  material  into  the  walks,  for  no 
matter  how  soon  the  latter  may  be  swept,  some  of 
the  decaying  material  is  trampled  upon  and  in 
this  way  the  first  steps  toward  the  beginning  of 
disease  may  be  taken.  The  only  safe  rule 
to  follow  is  to  never  allow  a  leaf  of 
any  kind  to  lie  around  and  decay  in 
the  houses  or  frames.  We  have  time  and 
time  again  seen  growers  cleaning  their  plants, 


CLEANING.  125 

especially  where  they  are  in  frames,  and  throwing 
the  dead  leaves,  runners,  and  weeds  out  under 
their  feet,  to  be  trampled  into  the  mud.  Such 
growers  have  fair  success  for  a  season  or  two,  then 
wonder  why  it  is  that  diseases  and  insect  pests 
steadily  increase  until  they  finally  get  the  upper 
hand.  Cleanliness  at  all  times  and  a 
thorough  destruction  of  all  diseased 
leaves,  cuttings,  and  plants  are  mat- 
ters that  should  never  be  neglected. 
Watering  to  the  ordinary  man  may  really  seem 
like  a  simple  matter,  but  it  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant factors  in  the  growth  of  this  or  any  other 
crop.  No  hard  and  fast  rules  can  be  laid  down  on 
this  subject.  Water  when  the  plants  need  it, 
which  can  only  be  determined  by  experience. 
We  never  water  over  head,  but  use  the  end  of  a 
three-quarter  inch  hose  held  in  such  a  way  that  the 
water  runs  out  freely  but  not  forcibly.  If  the 
water  comes  out  with  too  much  force  the  soil  is 
puddled  and  the  plants  may  be  washed  up. 
When  the  plants  are  still  young  and  the  ground  is 
soft  a  good  plan  is  to  fasten  to  the  end  of  the  hose 
an  ordinary  tin  pancake  turner,  such  as  can  be 
bought  anywhere  for  ten  cents.  This  can  be 
fastened  to  the  hose  by  a  rubber  band  and  will 
spread  the  water  so  that  it  will  fall  in  a  thin  sheet 
about  four  inches  wide.  The  water  soaks  in 
when  put  on  in  this  way  and  seldom  causes 
the  formation  of  a  crust — the  thing  to  be  avoided. 


126  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

Plants  in  hot  weather  require  water  almost  every 
day.  At  no  time  should  the  plants  be  allowed  to 
become  dry,  nor  should  water  be  given  so  often 
that  the  soil  is  kept  constantly  in  a  pasty  condition. 
In  our  judgment  the  best  results  will  be  obtained 
when  the  variation  of  the  moisture  in  the  soil  is 
allowed  the  widest  range  the  plants  will  stand. 
What  this  is  cannot  be  given  in  words  as  too  many 
conditions  are  involved.  It  is  a  question  that 
must  be  studied  by  each  individual  and  by  him 
worked  out  for  his  own  case.  The  point  we 
wish  to  make  is  that  better  growth  can 
be  obtained  by  allowing  a  certain 
r&nge  or  variation  in  the  moisture 
content  of  the  soil  than  where  an 
attempt  is  made  to  keep  the  moisture 
content  at  one  point  or  near  one  point. 
If,  for  example,  we  find  that  in  a  certain  type  of  soil 
the  best  growth  is  obtained  where  the  maximum 
moisture  content  approximates  twenty  per  cent,  it 
will  be  best  not  to  attempt  to  hold  the  moisture 
steadily  at  this  point,  but  rather  to  allow  a  varia- 
tion of  five  to  eight  per  cent,  as  this  is  more  apt  to 
give  optimum  conditions  for  growth  than  where 
an  effort  is  put  forth  to  hold  it  at  one  point. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  go  into  a  discussion 
of  the  physiological  questions  involved  in  this 
matter.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  we  may  look  at  the 
plant  in  the  light  of  a  machine  kept  in  operation 
in  part  by  stimuli  from  without.  Stimuli  may 


WATERING    AND    MULCHING.  127 

come  by  changes  in  conditions  and  if  everything 
works  in  harmony  perfect  growth  is  the  result. 

As  the  season  advances  the  plants  will  require 
more  and  more  water,  and  every  precaution  will 
have  to  be  taken  not  to  let  them  wilt  or  to  get  on 
the  dry  side  so  often  as  to  check  growth.  The 
plants  must  be  kept  growing  without  a  check  of 
any  kind,  so  that  by  the  middle  of  September  they 
practically  cover  the  ground. 

From  the  time  of  planting  constant  care  must 
be  exercised  in  the  matter  of  syringing.  Plants 
ought  to  be  syringed  throughout  the  summer  and 
early  fall  not  less  than  three  times  a  week.  We 
will  discuss  this  question  more  fully  in  the 
chapter  on  insects  and  diseases  as  the  syringing  is 
mainly  to  keep  down  red  spider.  Always  select 
bright  days  for  the  syringing  so  as  to  have  the 
plants  dry  off  before  night.  As  the  season 
advances  arid  the  plants  grow  larger  much  care 
must  be  exercised  in  syringing,  otherwise  serious 
results  may  follow,  as  will  be  pointed  out  further 
on.  By  the  first  or  middle  of  October  it  will  be 
necessary  to  withhold  all  water  from  the  foliage, 
and  if  the  spraying  has  been  thorough  this  can  be 
done  without  fear  of  injury  from  spider. 

About  the  middle  of  August  we  like  to  give 
the  beds  a  thin  mulching  of  finely  rotted  manure. 
Horse  manure  is  best  for  this  purpose,  as  it  works 
up  fine  and  dries  out  better  on  the  bed.  Put  on 
just  enough  to  cover  the  ground  and  work  it  well 


128  CARE    OF    PLANTS. 

around  the  plants.  The  manure  mulching  serves 
to  keep  the  ground  moist  and  free  from  weeds.  It 
also  keeps  the  flowers  cleaner  when  they  come  and 
checks  the  growth  of  slime  and  green  molds  that 
sometimes  appear  on  the  soil.  Mulching  with 
sphagnum  and  with  pine  shavings  has  been  tried, 
but  both  were  abandoned  in  favor  of  the  rotted 
horse  manure. 

Feeding  after  the  plants  are  once  established 
is  an  important  matter,  but  our  advice  to  the 
beginners  is  to  let  it  severely  alone.  There  are 
three  or  four  don'ts  that  come  in  aptly  at  this 
point:  (i)  Don't  imagine  that  you  must  feed 
your  plants  in  order  to  get  the  best  results.  This 
is  true  of  some  crops,  but  not  of  the  violet.  (2) 
Don't  trifle  with  chemicals.  They  may  be  all  right 
in  the  hands  of  an  expert,  but  it  is  like  putting 
strong  medicine  into  the  hands  of  a  layman  and 
turning  him  loose  to  doctor  his  friends.  (3)  If 
you  must  use  chemical  fertilizers  don't  experiment 
on  all  your  plants,  but  set  aside  a  few  dozen  in  one 
bed  and  a  few  dozen  in  another,  make  your  trials 
carefully,  and  compare  the  results  obtained  with 
those  where  no  chemicals  have  been  used.  We 
know  from  many  experiments  that  the  only  safe 
way  is  to  feed  as  little  as  possible,  as  the  plants  if 
let  alone  will  take  care  of  themselves  provided  the 
soil  is  prepared  as  we  have  described  elsewhere. 
When  you  do  feed  apply  only  manure  water  made 
by  soaking  good,  strong  cow  manure  in  water, 


FEEDING.  129 

using  about  one-half  bushel  of  manure  to  the  barrel 
of  water.  A  watering  with  this  kind  of  fertilizer 
every  ten  or  fifteen  days  during  the  winter  will  do 
no  harm  and  may  do  good.  Great  care,  however, 
must  be  exercised  in  keeping  the  manure  water 
fresh  and  odorless.  If  it  is  allowed  to  sour  and  be- 
come offensive  it  should  never  be  run  on  the  beds 
as  the  flowers  will  take  up  the  odor.  If  we  were 
growing  roses,  carnations,  or  chrysanthemums  our 
discussion  of  the  use  of  liquid  fertilizers  would  be 
different,  as  these  are  crops  that  can  stand  feeding 
while  the  violet  cannot — at  least  this  has  been  our 
experience  and  the  result  of  observations  in  many 
places  and  under  widely  varying  conditions. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  there  are  several 
points  to  which  we  wish  to  call  special  attention  : 
(T)  Never  delay  propagating  the  plants  until  late 
in  spring  for  such  stock  cannot  be  depended  upon. 
(2)  Always  propagate  two  or  even  three  times 
more  plants  than  your  houses  or  frames  will  hold 
in  order  to  cover  risks  and  to  have  plenty  of  stock 
for  selection.  (3)  From  the  time  the  cutting 
leaves  the  parent  plant  until  it  has  fulfilled  its 
mission  as  a  full  grown  crown,  never  allow  it 
to  become  checked  in  any  way.  (4)  Adopt  a 
rigid  system  of  selection.  (5)  Practice  cleanli- 
ness about  every  part  of  the  work.  (6)  Apply 
water  with  due  regard  for  the  plants'  wants  and 
not  by  any  set  of  rules. 


130  TEMPERATURE    AND    VENTILATION. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TEMPERATURE  CONDITIONS  AND  VENTILATION. 

The  violet  must  be  kept  cool  and  any  attempt 
to  force  it  by  heat  will  prove  disastrous.  For 
Campbell  violets  an  effort  should  be  made  to  keep 
the  night  temperature  between  forty-five  and 
fifty  degrees,  with  a  day  temperature,  in  bright 
weather,  ten  to  fifteen  degrees  higher.  Marie 
Louise  should  be  kept  cooler,  say  forty  to  forty- 
five  at  night,  with  day  temperature  fifty-five  to 
sixty. 

When  the  weather  is  cloudy  and  cold  do  not 
attempt  to  keep  the  inside  temperature  in  the 
sixties  or  even  the  fifties.  Probably  the  safest 
rule  to  follow  with  the  violet  at  all  times  is  to 
manage  the  conditions  so  as  to  have,  as  near  as 
possible,  an  average  temperature  of  eight  or  ten 
degrees  above  freezing.  For  example,  if  the 
temperature  outside  is  thirty  degrees  above  zero 
in  the  day  time  and  the  weather  cloudy,  keep 
the  temperature  of  the  houses  not  more  than 
forty  to  forty-five  degrees.  If  sunny  weathei 
prevails  the  temperature  will  naturally  go  higher, 
but  do  not  allow  it  to  get  above  sixty  degrees,  ii 
it  can  be  avoided  by  ventilation  and  allowing  the 


VENTILATION.  131 

heating  pipes  to  become  cold.  In  the  climate  of 
Washington  and  vicinity  it  is  very  seldom  neces- 
sary to  have  any  fire  in  the  heater  during  sunny 
weather,  unless  the  temperature  outside  is  exces- 
sively cold  and  high  winds  are  blowing.  As  a 
rule  the  heat  of  the  sun  will  be  amply  sufficient 
to  keep  the  houses  in  good  condition,  so  that  it  is 
always  safest  to  either  bank  or  cover  the  fires,  or 
else  allow  them  to  die  out  entirely  during  the  day. 
Of  course,  farther  north  these  rules  will  not  apply, 
but  in  a  general  way  they  will  hold  good  every- 
where. It  must  be  understood  that  the  violet  is 
unlike  the  rose  or  carnation  as  regards  heat,  and  as 
already  pointed  out  any  attempt  to  force  it  will 
result  in  overgrowth  of  leaves'  and  blasting  of  the 
flowers. 

Ventilation  has  already  been  briefly  men- 
tioned, but  it  is  important  to  call  attention  to  this 
matter  more  specifically,  for  it  is  of  the  highest 
importance  to  realize  the  necessity  of  giving  plenty 
of  air  to  the  plant  at  all  times.  It  is  impossible  to 
give  directions  as  to  how  and  when  to  ventilate. 
The  violet  is  a  lover  of  fresh  air  and  plenty  of  it, 
so  that  there  is  seldom  a  day  when  more  or  less 
air  should  not  be  given.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  this  is  a  simple  matter,  and  one  that  can  be 
left  to  the  hired  man  or  some  irresponsible  per- 
son. No  two  days  in  the  year  are  exactly  alike, 
so  far  as  the  requirements  for  ventilation  are  con- 
cerned. It  frequently  happens  that  air  will  be 


132  TEMPERATURE    AND    VENTILATION. 

needed  the  first  thing  in  the  morning,  and  it  should 
be  given,  not  all  at  once,  but  little  by  little  as  the 
day  advances  and  the  plants  require  it.  In  the 
course  of  such  a  day  changes  may  come  about, 
necessitating  letting  the  air  off,  so  that  there 
is  a  constant  changing  either  one  way  or  another 
throughout  the  entire  day.  Even  at  night  it  is 
necessary  to  observe  these  precautions  in  order  to 
keep  the  plants  in  good  condition.  It  has  been  our 
practice  to  allow  the  houses  to  run  just  as  cold  as 
possible  in  the  early  part  of  February  and  later. 
It  will  not  injure  the  plants  late  in  the  season  to 
occasionally  allow  a  little  frost  to  get  in.  This 
will  hold  back  the  flowers  and  will  give  more  re- 
turns as  the  season  advances.  In  March  or  April, 
if  the  weather  is  mild,  the  doors  and  ventilators 
should  be  open  at  all  times  in  order  to  get  plenty 
of  fresh  air.  If  this  practice  is  not  followed  the 
growth  will  be  so  rapid  that  blossoming  will 
soon  cease  and  there  will  be  no  flowers  for  Easter. 

One  of  the  chief  reasons  why  it  is  difficult  for 
a  grower  to  handle  violets  in  connection  with 
other  crops  is  the  failure  to  furnish  proper  tem- 
perature and  ventilation  for  the  violets.  The 
tendency  in  such  cases  is  always  to  give  too  much 
heat,  and  this  more  than  anything  else  will  soon 
manifest  itself  in  the  appearance  of  small,  poorly 
colored  flowers. 

The  same  care  given  in  the  houses  must  be 
observed  where  frames  are  used.  Plants  in  a 


TEMPERATURE.  133 

frame  will  burn  up  on  a  bright  day  unless  air  is 
properly  given.  Watch  the  conditions  carefully 
and  give  air  when  the  plants  need  it.  Often  it 
will  only  be  necessary  to  raise  one  frame  in  five  an 
inch  or  two  in  the  back.  Then  again  it  may  be 
necessary  to  raise  all  three  or  four  inches  to  keep 
the  plants  from  suffering.  On  mild  days  in  winter 
it  will  improve  the  plants  to  occasionally  take  the 
frames  entirely  off,  allowing  the  air  to  dry  out  the 
soil  and  the  sun  to  warm  it.  Snow  must  be  re- 
moved as  soon  as  possible,  but  it  often  happens 
that  a  good  coating  of  snow  will  save  the  plants 
from  freezing.  If  it  promises  to  be  very  cold  after 
a  snow  it  is  best  to  leave  the  latter  on  for  twenty- 
four  or  even  for  forty-eight  hours.  If  left  longer 
than  this  the  plants  may  suffer  for  want  of  light. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  give  in  tabulated 
form  the  temperature  records  of  a  violet  house  for 
five  months  of  the  winter  period.  These  records, 
which  were  made  for  the  writer  by  Mr.  Geo.  Salt- 
ford,  of  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  show  the  high- 
est, lowest,  and  average  temperatures  recorded 
during  the  day  and  also  during  the  night  in  his 
houses.  A  study  of  the  records  will  be  of  value 
to  those  who  desire  to  keep  their  houses  in  the 
proper  condition  so  far  as  temperature  is  con- 
cerned. Although  made  at  Poughkeepsie,  the 
records  are  applicable  to  most  sections  where 
violets  are  grown. 


134 


TEMPERATURE    AND    VENTILATION. 


Record  of  Night  and  Day  Temperatures  and  Sunshine 
for  five  months. 

DECEMBER,  1895. 


Date. 

Night  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 
Readings  at  7  A.M. 

Day  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 
Readings  at  7  P.M. 

Sunshine. 
(10  equals 

Dec.,  1895. 

sunshine 

all  day,  8 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

equals  8-10 
of  day.etc.) 

13 

46 

35 

40 

68 

54 

6l 

8 

14 

47 

42 

44 

64 

39 

51 

10 

15 

47 

42 

44 

65 

44 

54 

7 

16 

48 

44 

46 

64 

43 

53 

10 

17 

48 

41 

44 

64 

44 

54 

10 

18 

52 

43 

42 

62 

46 

54 

5 

19 

53 

46 

49 

68 

46 

57 

10 

20 

58 

46 

52 

72 

52 

62 

7 

21 

58 

53 

55 

65 

53 

59 

4 

22 

60 

45 

54 

66 

44 

55 

9 

23 

54 

48 

51 

65 

50 

57 

6 

24 

60 

46 

53 

70 

47 

58 

9 

25 

54 

50 

52 

59 

50 

54 

7 

26 

55 

49 

52 

62 

52 

57 

4 

27 

57 

44 

50 

67 

46 

56 

10 

2S 

47 

42 

44 

60 

42 

5i 

10 

29 

52 

44 

48 

56 

43 

49 

7 

30 

50 

40 

45 

51 

43 

47 

00 

3i 

60 

42 

5i 

55 

44 

49 

10 

Average, 
or  mean... 

53 

44 

48 

63 

46 

55 

TEMPERATURE. 
JANUARY,  1896. 


Date. 
Jan.,  i8q6. 

Night  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 
Readings  at  7  A.M. 

Day  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 
Readings  at  7  P.M. 

Sunshine. 

(10  equals 
sunshine 

all  day,  8 

equals  8-10 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

otday,etc.) 

I 

45 

40 

42 

58 

42 

50 

10 

2 

46 

40 

43 

61 

44 

52 

9 

3 

47 

44 

45 

71 

46 

58 

9 

4 

46 

38 

42 

60 

40 

50 

10 

5 

41 

34 

37 

63 

33 

48 

10 

6 

40 

31 

35 

64 

44 

54 

10 

7 

45 

38 

41 

49 

41 

45 

00 

8 

46 

38 

42 

61 

38 

49 

10 

9 

47 

38 

42 

47 

41 

44 

00 

10 

44 

40 

42 

61 

41 

51 

8 

ii 

47 

40 

43 

67 

47 

57 

00 

12 

47 

42 

44 

50 

47 

48 

10 

13 

47 

41 

44 

58 

39 

48 

10 

14 

47 

39 

43 

58 

39 

48 

IO 

15 

47 

35 

41 

68 

36 

52 

IO 

16 

46 

36 

41 

61 

41 

5i 

10 

17 

45 

38 

41 

59 

47 

53 

8 

18 

45 

39 

42 

66 

39 

52 

IO 

19 

48 

44 

46 

55 

42 

48 

00 

20 

43 

40 

4i 

61 

40 

5o 

5 

21 

47 

40 

43 

56 

41 

48 

oo 

22 

47 

40 

43 

63 

41 

52 

5 

23 

44 

41 

42 

58 

41 

49 

7 

24 

46 

41 

43 

49 

40 

44 

00 

25 

47 

46 

46 

49 

46 

47 

00 

26 

48 

45 

46 

55 

45 

50 

2 

27 

45 

41 

43 

66 

39 

52 

10 

28 

45 

38 

41 

56 

39 

47 

10 

29 

44 

36 

40 

65 

36 

50 

10 

30 

45 

40 

42 

66 

45 

55 

IO 

31 

45 

38 

4i 

66 

39 

52 

9 

Average, 
or  mean... 

46 

39 

42 

59 

4i 

50 

136  TEMPERATURE    AND    VENTILATION. 

FEBRUARY,  1896. 


Night  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 

Day  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 

Sunshine. 

Date. 

Readings  at  7  A.M. 

Readings  at  7  P.M. 

(10  equals 

Feb.,  1896. 

sunshine 

all  day,  8 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

equals  8-10 
of  day,  etc.) 

I 

45 

42 

43 

55 

42 

48 

OO 

2 

50 

40 

45 

69 

45 

57 

IO 

3 

46 

38 

42 

53 

39 

46 

00 

4 

45 

42 

43 

52 

42 

47 

00 

5. 

45 

42 

43 

57 

44 

50 

00 

6 

49 

46 

47 

56 

47 

51 

00 

7 

46 

42 

44 

59 

45 

52 

2 

8 

45 

42 

43 

?i 

44 

57 

10 

9 

46 

41 

43 

44 

42 

43 

OO 

10 

44 

38 

41 

70 

4i 

55 

IO 

ii 

44 

38 

4' 

56 

39 

47 

IO 

12 

42 

38 

40 

65 

42 

53 

10 

13 

46 

42 

44 

47 

42 

44 

00 

14 

47 

38 

42 

57 

39 

46 

10 

15 

47 

40 

43 

56 

42 

49 

10 

16 

49 

38 

43 

62 

38 

50 

10 

J7 

42 

35 

38 

63 

37 

50 

10 

18 

42 

34 

38 

6? 

42 

54 

10 

19 

47 

39 

43 

54 

39 

46 

7 

20 

44 

37 

40 

57 

37 

47 

IO 

21 

44 

37 

40 

62 

37 

49 

IO 

22 

45 

39 

42 

62 

42 

52 

IO 

23 

45 

37 

4i 

60 

45 

52 

5 

24 

46 

4' 

43 

63 

43 

53 

10 

25 

47 

39 

43 

62 

40 

5t 

10 

26 

44 

39 

4i 

55 

4i 

48 

00 

27 

44 

40 

42 

65 

40 

52 

10 

28 

44 

40 

42 

60 

41 

50 

4 

29 

5i 

44 

47 

51 

49 

50 

00 

Average, 
or  mean... 

46 

40 

43 

59 

42 

50 

TEMPERATURE. 
MARCH,  1896. 


'37 


Night  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 

Day  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 

Sunshine. 

Date. 

Readings  at  7  A.M. 

Readings  at  7  P.M. 

(10  equals 

Mar.,  1896. 

sunshine 

all  day,  8 

equals  8-10 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

of  day,  etc.) 

I 

51 

47 

49 

62 

44 

53 

OO 

2 

51 

44 

47 

67 

42 

54 

5 

3 

43 

39 

41 

62 

39 

50 

7 

4 

44 

38 

41 

63 

36 

49 

10 

5 

45 

38 

41 

67 

43 

55 

IO 

6 

44 

37 

40 

71 

38 

54 

IO 

7 

51 

44    47 

64 

44 

54 

5 

8 

50 

41 

45 

59 

39 

49 

9 

9 

45 

38 

64 

39 

5" 

5 

IO 

44 

39 

41 

55 

40 

47 

5 

ii 

43 

39 

41 

47 

41 

44 

00 

12 

44 

39 

41 

5i 

40 

45 

4 

13 

42 

36 

39 

62 

38 

50 

10 

14 

37 

34 

35 

67 

54 

IO 

15 

48 

38 

43 

61 

36 

48 

5 

16 

45 

39 

42 

56 

48 

00 

17 

44 

41 

42 

61 

43 

52 

10 

18 

43 

34 

38 

60 

42 

5i 

10 

19 

45 

38 

41 

61 

41 

51 

00 

20 

54 

42 

48 

57 

40 

48 

10 

21 

42 

33 

40 

60 

39 

49 

10 

22 

41 

37 

39 

67 

54 

9 

23 

45 

35 

40 

57 

38 

48 

2 

24 

44 

35 

39 

64 

37 

50 

IO 

25 

44 

38 

67 

40 

53 

IO 

26 

5  i 

40 

45 

67 

48 

57 

IO 

27 

47 

36 

58 

40 

49 

IO 

28 

49 

39 

44 

64 

42 

53 

10 

29 

47 

40 

43 

53 

44 

48 

oo 

30 

47 

44 

45 

67 

44 

55 

5 

31 

49 

44 

46 

80 

47 

63 

10 

Average, 
or  mean... 

46 

39 

42 

62 

4r 

5i 

138  TEMPERATURE    AND    VENTILATION. 

APRIL,  1896. 


Date. 

Night  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 
Readings  at  7  A.M. 

Day  temperature. 
Degrees  F. 
Readings  at  7  P.M. 

Sunshine. 
(10  equals 

April,  1896. 

sunshine 

all  day,  8 

equals  8-10 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

Max. 

Min. 

Mean. 

otday,etc.) 

I 

51 

39 

45 

60 

47 

53 

7 

2 

47 

42 

44 

54 

40 

47 

i 

3 

4i 

35 

38 

67 

38 

52 

5 

4 

42 

36 

39 

55 

41 

48 

10 

5 

49 

37 

43 

69 

42 

55 

10 

6 

47 

46 

46 

57 

4* 

49 

5 

7 

44 

39 

41 

57 

40 

4b 

oo 

8 

43 

39 

41 

65 

42 

53 

10 

9 

44 

37 

40 

47 

45 

46 

10 

10 

50 

42 

46 

68 

44 

56 

10 

ii 

50 

39 

44 

70 

50 

60 

8 

12 

51 

49 

50 

79 

51 

65 

9 

13 

50 

44 

47 

84 

50 

67 

9 

14 

60 

49 

54 

85 

60 

72 

10 

15 

67 

58 

62 

93 

65 

79 

10 

16 

70 

59 

64 

103 

69 

86 

JO 

17 

69 

61 

65 

85 

64 

74 

9 

18 

72 

64 

68 

103 

72 

87 

9 

19 

7i 

61 

66 

92 

70 

81 

10 

20 

74 

64 

69 

94 

73 

83 

10 

21 

72 

63 

67 

9i 

70 

80 

4 

22 

69 

60 

64 

70 

43 

56 

8 

23 

47 

35 

4i 

80 

57 

68 

10 

24 

60 

41 

50 

85 

59 

72 

9 

25 

54 

42 

48 

65 

54 

59 

5 

26 

55 

4i 

48 

67 

53 

60 

10 

27 

58 

42 

50 

73 

58 

65 

10 

28 

59 

40 

49 

79 

60 

69 

5 

29 

64 

45 

54 

85 

65 

75 

9 

30 

57 

43 

50 

84 

58 

7i 

10 

Average, 
or  mean... 

56 

46 

51 

76 

54 

65 

TEMPERATURE.  139 

Average  Temperatures. 

Night.  Day. 

December     , 48  55     Degrees  F. 

January 42  50  " 

February  .....    42  50  " 

March 42  51  " 

April 51  65 


140         HANDLING    AND    MARKETING    THE    CROP. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


HANDLING  AND  MARKETING  THE  CROP. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  to  grow  good 
flowers  is  not  the  only  requirement  for  success. 
After  the  flowers  are  grown  they  must  be 
marketed,  and  to  do  this  successfully  is  one  of  the 
most  important  matters  with  which  we  have  to 
deal.  Success  in  this  particular  respect  is  in  large 
measure  dependent  upon  the  character  and 
temperament  of  the  man.  Some  men  may  be  ex- 
cellent growers  and  yet  so  lacking  in  personality 
and  adaptability  that  they  cannot  deal  with  their 
customers  in  a  satisfactory  manner  for  any  length 
of  time.  It  is  very  often  the  case  that  such  men 
blame  everything  but  the  right  thing  for  their  in- 
ability to  get  along  and  for  the  trouble  they  have 
not  only  with  the  dealers  that  handle  their  stock, 
but  with  the  men  who  work  for  them  as  well. 
There  is  little  hope  for  such  people  until  they  can 
be  brought  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  the  diffi- 
culty is  in  themselves  and  not  in  the  things  around 
them.  Learn,  therefore,  to  adapt  yourself  to  the 
conditions  as  you  find  them  and  things  will  go 
much  easier  than  when  you  attempt  to  mold  all 
conditions  to  your  way  of  thinking. 


STUDYING    THE    MARKETS.  141 

At  the  outset  it  is  necessary  to  study  the 
needs  of  your  market  and  try  to  meet  them  as 
fully  as  possible.  When  you  start  you  will  doubt- 
less be  a  stranger — at  least  you  will  be  regarded  as 
such  from  a  business  point  of  view,  for  business  is 
not  prone  to  recognize  sentiment  in  any  of  its 
dealings.  You  willtherefore  have  to  es- 
tablish your  ability  to  grow  good  stock, 
to  grow  it  regularly,  and  to  be  able  to 
put  it  into  the  hands  of  your  dealer 
when  he  wants  it.  This  cannot  be  done  in 
one  or  two  years,  but  at  the  end  of  three  or  four 
seasons,  if  the  work  has  been  carried  on  in  the 
right  way,  your  reputation  will  have  a  fair  start. 

It  is  perfectly  feasible  for  a  grower  who 
knows  his  conditions  and  handles  his  plants 
properly,  to  tell  by  the  first  of  October  how  many 
flowers  he  can  furnish  for  the  following  six 
months;  that  is,  he  ought  to  know  within  two 
or  three  per  cent  how  many  flowers  he  will 
have  for  October,  November,  December,  and 
each  succeeding  month  through  March.  Know- 
ing this,  he  is  in  a  position  to  deal  in  a  business- 
like way  with  the  man  or  men  who  handle  his 
flowers,  for  it  is  as  important  for  the  dealer 
to  know,  to  a  reasonable  certainty,  what  he  can 
depend  upon  as  it  is  for  the  grower  to  know 
what  he  can  furnish.  Much  of  the  complaint 
which  arises  about  poor  prices  being  received  for 
flowers  is  not  because  the  flowers  are  not  good, 


41.— Violets  bunched  for  Philadelphia,  market,  some  of  the 
flowers  projecting-  from  the  bunch. 


MARKETING.  143 

but  it  is  on  account  of  the  spasmodic  way  in  which 
they  are  sent  in  and  the  fact  that  they  have  to  take 
their  chances  with  a  great  mass  of  stock  of  this 
kind.  From  the  last  purchaser  or  consumer  to  the 
grower  there  is  a  direct  connection  in  this  mat- 
ter. Even  though  flowers  are  a  luxury,  customers 
soon  learn  where  the  supply  is  steady  and  the 
quality  high.  They  recognize  this  and  are  willing 
to  pay  for  it.  The  dealer  in  time  knows  the 
growers  he  can  depend  upon  and  can  afford  to  pay 
them  a  higher  price  for  their  stock  than  the  men 
who  can  give  no  reliable  assurance  as  to  what  they 
can  furnish  from  one  week  to  another.  It  is  this 
very  fact  that  emphasizes  the  importance  of  grow- 
ing the  plants  in  houses,  for  if  they  are  in  frames 
a  snow  storm  or  cold  snap  may  close  up  every- 
thing for  a  week  or  more,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
demand  in  the  city  has  not  diminished  in  the  least. 

Outside  of  what  has  been  said,  however,  there 
are  many  details  that  influence  the  success  of  dis- 
posing of  stock.  Every  market  has  its  peculiari- 
ties and  these  must  be  studied  and  pandered  to. 
We  cannot  point  out  these  conditions  for  they  vary 
so  much  and  change  so  often  that  the  matter 
is  one  that  will  have  to  be  taken  in  hand  by  the 
grower  himself. 

The  methods  of  bunching,  arranging  of  the 
leaves,  and  other  matters  all  vary  in  different 
sections  and  we  can  only  describe  some  of  the 
more  important  ones  here.  Before  proceeding  to 


-^aa^ 


42.— Violets  bunched  for  Washington  market,  using- Princess 
ol  Wales  leaves. 


MARKETING.  145 

do  this,  however,  it  would  be  well  to  consider 
more  in  detail  some  of  the  methods  of  disposing 
of  the  flowers.  The  grower  may  sell  his  flowers 
direct  to  the  retailer,  or  he  may  dispose  of  them 
through  the  commission  merchant.  Each  plan 
has  its  advantages  and  disadvantages  and  these 
we  shall  now  point  out.  No  one  questions  the 
fact  that  there  are  plenty  of  honest,  straight- 
forward business  men  in  both  lines.  There  are 
frauds  of  course,  but  we  meet  them  everywhere, 
and  as  soon  as  one  is  found  out  he  should  be 
dropped.  The  retailer  pays  for  the  flowers 
outright  and  unless  the  grower  is  in  position  to 
demand  something  better  he  will  get  just  half 
the  retail  price  for  his  stock;  that  is,  if  violets 
are  selling  at  two  dollars  per  bunch  of  fifty 
flowers  the  grower  will  get  one  dollar,  if  they 
are  selling  for  one  dollar  he  will  get  fifty  cents. 
This  seems  like  a  big  margin  of  profit  for  the 
retailer,  but  in  reality  the  risks  are  so  many  that 
it  is  about  all  he  can  afford  to  pay  to  the  grower 
who  cannot  count  on  what  he  can  furnish  in  the 
way  of  quantity  or  quality.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  grower  who  conducts  his  business  in  the 
proper  way  can  make  up  his  schedule  of  prices  at 
the  beginning  of  the  season,  and  the  retailer, 
knowing  his  man  and  that  he  can  depend  upon 
him,  can  afford  to  pay  him  more.  In  fact,  the 
prices  in  such  cases  should  and  will  run  from 
twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent  higher  than  in 


146         HANDLING    AND    MARKETING    THE    CROP. 

the  first  plan  described.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
grower  who  sells  to  the  retailer  has  no  oppor- 
tunity as  a  grower  to  enlarge  his  reputation, 
for  the  purchaser  seldom  knows  who  grows  the 
stock.  The  fact  is  that  a  large  portion  of  the 
purchasers  have  the  innocent  delusion  that  the  re- 
tailer himself  grows  all  the  stock  he  sells.  The 
grower,  therefore,  has  no  way  of  extending  his 
reputation  and  if  anything  should  happen  to  the 
retailer  who  handles  his  flowers,  he  will  have  to 
start  over  again  with  a  new  man,  which  is  a 
thing  not  always  easy  to  do.  Again,  the  re- 
tailer must  necessarily  be  more  exacting  in  his 
demands.  He  has  orders  to  fill  at  all  times  of  the 
day  and  every  day  in  the  week,  and  the  grower 
must  always  be  willing  and  ready  to  fill  such 
orders. 

In  selling  through  commission  merchants  the 
stock  is  put  in  competition  with  others,  and  its 
merits  will  always  tell  in  the  hands  of  a  fair 
merchant — the  only  kind  it  pays  to  deal  with. 
It  is  true  that  a  commission  must  be  paid,  but 
where  this  is  done  and  the  flowers  are  put  up 
and  delivered  properly  and  in  good  shape,  the  net 
returns  will  equal  those  from  the  retailer.  In 
selling  through  the  commission  merchant  the 
grower  has  practically  unlimited  opportunity  for 
extending  his  reputation.  Every  shipment  should 
indicate  plainly  who  the  grower  is,  and  the  re- 
tailers, who  are  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  good 


MARKETING.  147 

material  soon  learn  where  they  can  get  it  and  will 
pay  for  it  accordingly.  Furthermore,  the  grower 
in  such  cases  can  manage  his  business  so  as  to  pick 
his  flowers  at  regular  times  and  all  of  the  work 
about  the  place  can  therefore  be  put  on  a  more 
systematic  basis.  Where  a  grower  is  so  situated 
that  he  can  reach  several  good  markets  within  one 
to  eight  hours  it  would  be  best  to  combine  the  two 
plans,  as  may  frequently  be  done.  The  nearest 
market,  which  he  could  reach  daily  perhaps  in 
person,  might  be  given  up  to  dealing  with  the  re- 
tailer, while  the  commission  merchant  could  be 
used  in  the  more  distant  market.  It  is  seldom  de- 
sirable to  sell  to  more  than  one  retailer  in  a  city, 
for  if  you  have  good  stock  and  your  merchant  is 
doing  the  proper  amount  of  business  he  can 
handle  without  difficulty  all  you  can  supply.  He 
will  furthermore  do  it  better  and  more  to  your 
advantage  than  if  you  attempt  to  divide  up  your 
stock  among  several  retailers.  All  these  matters 
and  many  others  will  have  to  be  studied  by  each 
individual,  and  if  done  intelligently  the  best  and 
most  profitable  methods  will  soon  be  learned. 

Coming  now  more  particularly  to  the  details  of 
handling  the  crop,  it  must  be  understood  that  in 
addition  to  being  put  up  in  an  attractive  manner 
the  violet  to  sell  at  the  best  price  must  have  other 
qualities.  The  stems  must  be  long,  and  the 
flowers  of  a  good  color,  large,  and,  most  im- 
portant of  all,  they  must  be  sweet.  A  violet 


148         HANDLING    AND    MARKETING    THE    CROP. 

without  sweetness  is  not  wanted 
anywhere,  and  a  failure  to  recog- 
nize this  leads  to  more  trouble  than 
any  other  one  thing  connected  with 
the  work.  Violets  properly  grown  are  always 
sweet,  but  all  the  delicious  odor  may  be  lost 
through  improper  handling.  The  flower  loses 
its  odor  rapidly  as  soon  as  it  is  removed  from  the 
plant,  and  the  quicker  it  reaches  the  retailer's 
hands  the  sweeter  it  will  be.  Long  distance  ship- 
ments, therefore,  are  never  satisfactory,  for  by 
the  time  the  flowers  reach  their  destination  they 
have  lost  nearly  all  their  odor.  Ten  to  thirteen 
hours  from  the  time  of  picking  until  the  market  is 
reached  is  practically  the  limit  so  far  as  relates  to 
holding  the  sweetness  of  the  flower.  It  is  unwise, 
therefore,  to  pick  the  afternoon  of  one  day,  and 
after  holding  the  flowers  over  night,  ship  the  fol- 
lowing morning.  It  is  best,  whenever  possible,  to 
have  the  flowers  picked  early  in  the  morning 
and  reach  market  the  same  morning  or  not  later 
than  the  middle  of  the  same  afternoon.  If 
picked  late  in  the  afternoon  they  should  be 
shipped  that  night  so  as  to  be  in  the  market 
early  the  next  morning. 

The  best  times  for  picking  are  early  in  the 
morning  and  late  in  the  afternoon,  that  is,  between 
six  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  four  and 
six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Different  plans  are 
adopted  in  picking  and  bunching.  As  a  rule,  fifty 


BUNCHING.  149 

flowers  are  put  in  a  bunch  and  the  bunch  is  then 
backed  up  with  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  leaves 
arid  tied  with  violet-colored  cord.  It  is  customary 
in  most  establishments  to  do  this  work  directly  in 
the  beds.  One  or  two  men  pick  and  tie  the 
flowers  temporarily  in  bunches  of  fifty.  Another — 
more  expert  in  shaping  the  bunches — unfastens 
the  temporary  tie  and  after  arranging  the  flowers 
in  symmetrical  and  compact  form,  picks  and 
adds  the  leaves  and  the  bunch  is  then  tied  perma- 
nently. After  tying,  the  bunches  are  placed  in 
pans  of  water  six  inches  deep,  with  cross-bars  of 
laths  or  other  strips  to  hold  the  flowers  and  leaves 
out  of  the  water.  Placed  in  water  in  this  way  the 
flowers  soon  stiffen  up,  and,  if  kept  cool,  they  lose 
little  of  their  odor. 

Another  method,  and  one  we  prefer  to  follow, 
is  to  pick  the  flowers  and  tie  them  roughly  in 
bunches  of  one  hundred.  They  are  then  carried 
immediately  to  a  cool  bunching  room  and  placed 
in  water.  When  all  is  ready  they  can  be  bunched 
by  experienced  hands  and  rapidly  sorted  at  the 
same  time.  Working  in  this  way  two  men  can 
pick  and  bunch  from  a  thousand  to  twelve  hundred 
an  kour.  This  does  not  mean  merely  throwing 
the  flowers  together  and  tying  them  with  a  string, 
but  it  involves  the  exercise  of  taste  and  judgment 
in  having  a  symmetrical,  yet  compact  bunch  taste- 
fully surrounded  by  leaves  arranged  so  as  to  pre- 
sent a  neat  margin  of  green.  The  question  of 


150  HANDLING    AND    MARKETING    THE    CROP. 


BUNCHING.  151 

bunching  is  an  important  one — so  important  in 
fact  that  it  often  makes  a  big  difference  in  the 
price  obtained  for  the  flowers.  A  little  time  spent 
in  any  of  our  wholesale  markets  shows  this  fact 
strikingly.  Good  flowers  will  come  in  poorly 
bunched  and  with  a  few  little  straggling  yellow 
leaves  sticking  out  from  the  center.  Such  flowers, 
although  good  in  themselves,  are  apt  to  bring  fifty 
per  cent  less  than  those  from  another  source 
tastefully  and  attractively  put  up  and  properly 
packed.  Once  in  a  while,  too,  in  careless  bunch- 
ing a  faded  or  dirty  flower  is  put  in.  This  invari- 
ably spoils  the  bunch  and  is  very  apt  to  knock  off 
profits  on  the  whole  shipment.  It  would  pay 
many  growers  who  complain  of  poor  prices  to 
make  weekly  visits  to  their  markets,  and  if  they 
are  at  all  alert  they  will  soon  learn  that  the 
trouble  is  not  all  with  the  much-abused  commis- 
sion man.  So  important  is  the  matter  of  bunch- 
ing that  the  grower  himself  ought  to  person- 
ally attend  to  it,  or  at  least  see  that  every  bunch 
receives  his  rigid  inspection  before  it  goes  out  of 
his  hands. 

It  is  customary  in  shipping  to  pack  either  in 
return  or  gift  boxes.  Here  also  great  care  must 
be  exercised  to  make  the  packages  attractive,  both 
on  the  outside  and  inside.  The  more  common 
practice  is  to  use  return  wooden  boxes  with 
hinged  lids,  each  box  holding  from  a  thousand  to 
one  thousand  five  hundred  flowers.  The  bunches 


152         HANDLING    AND    MARKETING    THE    CROP. 


44.— Leaves  of  California  violet  wired  together 
for  bunching  Sowers. 


PACKING    THE    FLOWERS.  153 

as  they  are  taken  from  the  water  have  the  stems 
wrapped  in  soft  tissue  paper.  The  stems  are  then 
dipped  in  water  again  and  the  bunches  packed 
closely  in  the  box,  stems  down.  When  properly 
packed  the  flowers  should  not  shake  or  mash. 
Finally  the  boxes  are  sealed  and  are  labeled  with 
the  grower's  name  and  address. 

Before  beginning  the  packing,  the  boxes  are 
lined  with  newspapers,  with  oiled  paper  next  to 
the  flowers.  In  winter  great  care  has  to  be  exer- 
cised to  keep  the  flowers  from  freezing.  It  is 
often  necessary  to  line  the  boxes  with  six  or  seven 
thicknesses  of  newspaper  in  order  to  keep  out 
frost.  In  some  cases  felt  is  used,  but  newspapers, 
being  always  at  hand,  are  more  convenient,  and 
besides  are  just  as  serviceable,  and  in  some  re- 
spects more  desirable. 

In  some  cases  a  plan  of  packing  flowers  in 
wooden  boxes  provided  with  trays  is  followed. 
Such  trays  are  made  about  two  inches  deep  and 
have  wire  netting  on  the  bottom.  The  mesh  of 
the  netting  must  be  of  sufficient  size  to  allow  the 
stems  to  project  through.  These  make  excellent 
shipping  boxes,  and  by  arranging  two  trays  in  a 
box,  from  one  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  flowers 
can  be  shipped  in  one  package.  The  same  pre- 
cautions to  prevent  frost  injuries  must,  of  course, 
be  exercised  in  this  case.  At  this  point  it  is  well 
to  emphasize  the  fact  that  no  matter  by  what  rail- 
road the  flowers  are  shipped,  extra  precautions 


154         HANDLING    AND    MARKETING    THE    CROP. 

must  be  taken  to  keep  out  frost.  Although  the 
packages  may  start  out  in  a  well-heated  car  it 
is  always  difficult  to  foresee  what  will  happen  to 
them  before  they  reach  their  destination.  It  is, 
therefore,  necessary  to  keep  a  close  watch  on 
weather  conditions  and  make  the  packing  in  ac- 
cordance with  what  the  best  judgment  is  in  re- 
gard to  the  likelihood  of  a  cold  snap. 


45. — Leatherette  shipping'  box  open. 
Another  very  satisfactory  means  of  packing 
flowers  has  been  recently  devised  by  Mr.  P.  H. 
Dorsett.  Instead  of  the  wooden  boxes,  he  uses 
ordinary  leatherette  telescopes, which  he  has  made 
to  order.  These  are  eighteen  inches  long,  ten 
inches  wide,  and  seven  inches  deep.  The  cover 
fits  over  the  inside  box,  and  the  whole  is  fastened 
by  a  strap  at  each  end.  A  handle  is  put  on  the 


PACKING    THE    FLOWERS. 


'55 


top  so  that  the  package  is  very  easily  looked  after 
by  the  expressmen  and  others  who  have  to  handle 
it.  A  wire  frame  is  made  to  fit  inside  the  box, 
the  meshes  of  the  wire  being  about  half  an  inch 
square.  Ten  holes  are  cut  in  the  wire,  each  two 
inches  square,  to  take  the  bunches  of  violets.  The 
frame  is  made  seventeen  inches  long,  nine  inches 
wide,  and  four  inches  deep.  The  stems  of  the 
bunches  are  inserted  into  the  holes  and  the  five 


46, — Shipping  box  showing   wire  screen  lor 
holding  bunches. 

hundred  flowers  packed  neatly  into  the  box.  These 
packages  save  considerable  expense  in  express 
charges.  They  are,  of  course,  returned,  and 
with  good  usage,  will  probably  last  for  several  sea- 
sons. The  cost  of  these  telescopes  complete,  in- 
cluding wire,  is  about  two  dollars  each. 

In   cold  weather   a   second   covering,   which 
slips  over  the  entire  box,  is  used.     In  addition  to 


156    HANDLING  AND  MARKETING  THE  CROP. 

this  quilts  made  of  cotton  batting  are  used,  so 
that  there  is  about  an  inch  of  frost-proof  mate- 
rial protecting  the  flowers.  As  in  other  cases,  the 
stems  of  the  violets  are  wrapped  in  moist  tissue 
paper,  and  a  layer  of  oil  paper,  which  is  put  into 
the  box  before  the  flowers  are  inserted,  keeps  in 
the  moisture  and  odor.  It  has  been  found  by  ex- 


47. — Shipping-  box  closed  and  strapped, 

perience  that  such  packages  are  handled  more 
gently  by  express  men,  and  the  flowers  in  all  cases 
reach  their  destination  in  excellent  shape.  Once 
in  a  while  some  are  lost  through  frost,  but  this 
seldom  occurs,  except  through  the  carelessness  of 
the  railroad  people. 

The  gift  boxes,  which  are  not  returned  to  the 


PACKING    THE    FLOWERS.  157 

grower,  are  usually  made  of  three-eighth  inch 
pine.  They  are  deep  enough  for  the  bunches  in 
an  upright  position  and  hold  from  eight  hundred 
to  one  thousand  flowers.  After  being  packed  and 
carefully  nailed  they  are  wrapped  with  newspa- 
pers or  other  coverings  to  exclude  the  frost. 
These  boxes  have  some  advantages,  but  they  also 
have  many  disadvantages,  chief  of  which  may  be 
mentioned  the  fact  that  the  violets  in  them  never 
make  as  good  a  showing  as  where  they  are  in  neat 
packages,  such  as  already  described. 

Where  the  market  can  be  easily  reached  it  is, 
of  course,  not  necessary  to  exercise  the  pre- 
cautions above  mentioned  in  getting  the  flowers 
to  their  destination.  In  many  cases  it  is  practi- 
cable for  the  grower  to  take  his  stock  to  market  in 
a  wagon  or  to  send  or  take  it  by  train.  This  is 
especially  the  case  when  dealing  with  the  retailer, 
and  in  such  instances  it  is  necessary  only  to  see 
that  the  flowers  are  kept  from  frost  and  from 
being  unnecessarily  shaken  or  jarred.  It  is 
always  best,  however,  to  wrap  the  stems  in  moist 
paper,  as  it  has  been  found  by  experience  that  by 
doing  this  the  flowers  are  kept  fresh  and  sweet 
much  longer  than  they  otherwise  could  be.  We 
cannot  emphasize  too  strongly  the 
importance  of  studying  the  markets. 
You  must  know  what  is  wanted  and 
keep  fully  posted  upon  every  detail 
in  order  to  command  the  best  prices. 


158         HANDLING    AND    MARKETING    THE    CROP. 

One  feature  of  marketing-  violets  may  be 
cited  here  as  a  suggestion.  It  is  given  as  a  sugges- 
tion for  the  reason  that  so  far  as  we  know  it  has 
never  been  attempted  in  practice.  There  seems  to 
be  no  reason  why  it  would  not  be  profitable  to 
start  what  could  be  called  a  violet  store  in  al- 
most every  city  of  fifty  thousand  or  more  in- 
habitants. In  such  cases  it  might  not  be  necessary 
to  use  an  entire  storeroom  for  the  purpose.  Some 
of  the  large  business  houses  might  furnish  the  de- 
sired space,  or  else  room  could  be  procured  in 
other  ways.  It  would,  of  course,  be  important  to 
be  located  in  a  good  business  section,  the  idea 
being  to  devote  the  entire  work  to  the  sale  of 
violets,  retail  and  wholesale.  By  exercising  the 
proper  taste  in  fitting  up  such  a  place,  taking 
advantage  of  all  new  ideas  in  the  matter  of 
decorations,  boxes,  ribbons,  etc.,  there  seems  to 
be  no  reason  why  such  an  establishment  would 
not  prove  profitable.  It  should  be  the  aim  of  the 
proprietor  of  such  a  place,  of  course,  to  not  only 
pander  to  the  wants  of  customers,  but  to  build  up 
and  make  fads  himself. 

Throughout  the  entire  work  every  precaution 
must  be  taken  to  keep  the  flowers  away  from  all 
foreign  odors.  A  new  pine  box,  for  instance,  may 
cause  trouble.  Any  objectionable  odor,  in  fact, 
either  in  the  box,  the  paper,  or  the  room  where 
the  work  is  carried  on,  is  apt  to  be  taken  up  by 
the  flowers  and  to  destroy  their  sweetness. 


DISEASES    AND    THEIR    TREATMENT.  159 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


DISEASES  AND  INSECT  ENEMIES. 
No  hard  and  fast  lines  can  be  drawn  between 
diseases  proper  and  insect  attacks.  Strictly  speak- 
ing1, a  disease  is  any  derangement  of  the  functions 
of  the  plant,  be  it  caused  by  fungous  attacks,  in- 
sect injuries,  environment,  or  a  combination  of  all. 
For  convenience  we  may  discuss  the  subject  under 
two  heads,  (i)  diseases  and  their  treatment,  (2) 
insect  enemies  and  methods  of  combating  them. 

DISEASES  AND  THEIR  TREATMENT. 

Probably  no  other  subject  connected  with 
violet  growing  has  been  so  much  discussed  as  the 
diseases.  This  is  nothing  more  than  might  be  ex- 
pected, for  the  final  effects  of  all  proper  or  im- 
proper methods  of  cultivation  are  manifested  either 
in  the  form  of  health  or  disease.  The  plant,  in 
other  words,  is  largely  what  the  grower  makes  it, 
and  if  he  thoroughly  understood  his  work  there 
would  be  little  need  for  writing  this  chapter.  This 
is  equivalent  to  saying  that  the  question  is  largely 
one  of  knowing  how  to  make  the  conditions  or  en- 
vironment so  nearly  perfect  as  to  preclude  the 
possibility  of  disease.  It  must  be  understood,  of 


l6o  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

course,  that  we  are  dealing  with  plants  in  a  differ- 
ent way  from  what  they  are  as  we  find  them  in  the 
open  air,  where  they  are  dependent  on  water,  air, 
heat,  and  light  as  furnished  by  nature.  Under 
glass  man  can  not  only  do  much  toward  getting 
just  the  plant  he  wants  for  the  conditions  he  has, 
but  can  approach  the  problem  from  another  direc- 
tion and  provide  the  conditions  best  for  his  plant. 
Let  us  make  this  point  perfectly  plain,  for  few 
growers  appreciate  it  or  realize  the  real  power  be- 
hind it.  Theoretically  it  will  be  understood  that 
if  the  needs  of  the  plant  and  the  environment  were 
exactly  balanced,  perfect  growth  would  result. 
Going  further,  it  will  be  seen  that  if  just  the  right 
conditions  could  be  furnished  at  all  times,  and 
the  plant  through  its  adaptability  were  able  to  meet 
them  exactly,  growth  would  not  only  be  perfect, 
but  life  itself  would  be  continuous.  We  cannot, 
of  course,  reach  this  ideal,  but  we  can  strive  to  ap- 
proximate it,  and  this  is  the  gist  of  all  that  we  have 
said  in  previous  chapters  on  soil,  watering,  feeding, 
propagation,  selection,  etc. ;  so  that  when  it  really 
comes  to  discussing  the  diseases  there  is  little  ad- 
ditional to  say,  except  to  describe  the  way  the 
plant  behaves  when  diseased  and  to  point  out  the 
best  line  of  action  in  order  to  once  again  restore 
the  equilibrium  existing  between  the  plant  on  the 
one  hand  and  environment  on  the  other. 

The  really  important  diseases  of  the  violet  are 
comparatively  few  in  number,  and  in  the  order  of 


SPOT,    OR    SPOT    DISEASE.  l6l 

the  injuries  they  produce  maybe  given  as  follows: 
(i)  spot,  or  spot  disease;  (2)  wilt,  or  stem  rot;  (3) 
nanism,  or  stuntedness;  (4)  scald,  or  edge  burn; 
(5)  oedema,  or  wart  disease;  (6)  crown  rot,  and 
(7)  root  galls,  or  nematodes. 

Spot,  or  Spot  Disease*  This  is  generally  re- 
ferred to  as  "the  violet  disease,"  and  is  recog- 
nized by  growers  generally  as  the  most  serious 
enemy  with  which  they  have  to  deal.  Much  has 
been  written  about  it  and  many  theories  have 
been  advanced  as  to  its  cause.  There  is  no 
question  that  spot  can  be  produced  in  many  ways, 
and  may  result  from  the  attacks  of  a  number 
of  different  fungi.  The  true  spot  disease,  how- 
ever (the  one  which  under  certain  conditions  may 
sweep  away  an  entire  field  or  house  of  plants  in  a 
few  weeks),  has  always  associated  with  it  a  specific 
fungus.  The  fungus  is  found  wherever  there  is 
true  spot  and  the  spot  occurs  in  this  country  wher- 
ever the  violet  is  grown.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
as  to  the  relation  of  this  fungus  to  the  disease,  for 
time  and  time  again  the  connection  has  been 
proved  by  careful  scientific  experiments.  The 
fungus  itself  is  an  undescribed  species  of  Alter- 
naria,  and  can  be  grown,  watched,  and  handled  as 
readily  as  the  violet  plant  upon  which  it  lives.  The 
writer  has  never  seen  a  house,  a  frame,  or  a  field 
where  this  fungus  was  not  present,  and  plants 
have  been  examined  from  Massachusetts  to  Cali- 
fornia. Often  spotted  leaves  are  found  on  which 


1 62  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

even  the  microscope  fails  to  reveal  the  presence  of 
the  fungus  externally.  If  these  leaves  are  placed 
in  moist  air  for  twenty-four  hours,  however,  an 
abundant  crop  of  reproductive  bodies  will  be 
found  on  the  diseased  areas. 


48.— Spot  disease.    Early  effects  on  foliage. 

The  effects  of  spot  are  so  well  known  as  to 
require  but  little  description  to  recognize  them. 
The  first  effects,  however,  are  usually  overlooked 
and  it  is  really  after  the  plant  has  in  a  measure 


SPOT,    OR    SPOT    DISEASE.  163 

succeeded  in  protecting  itself  that  the  attention  of 
the  grower  is  called  to  the  injuries.  Ordinarily 
the  first  indication  of  a  serious  attack  in  a  house  or 
in  a  field  is  a  peculiar  odor  wholly  indescribable, 
but  which  once  experienced  will  never  be  forgotten. 
It  is  sickening,  and  can  be  approximated  by  putting 
a  lot  of  violet  leaves  in  water,  placing  them  in  a 
warm  room,  and  allowing  them  to  wilt. 

An  examination  of  the  leaves  when  this  odor 
is  first  noticed  will  reveal  numerous  greenish 
water-soaked  spots,  varying  in  size  from  a  pin 
head  to  the  blunt  end  of  a  lead  pencil.  There 
may  be  only  one  or  two  such  spots  on  a  leaf;  then 
again  the  whole  leaf  and  plant  may  be  peppered. 
This  is  spot,  and  two  or  three  badly  affected  plants 
in  a  house  will  make  themselves  known  to  the 
trained  nostrils.  Early  in  the  morning,  before  the 
ventilators  are  raised,  is  the  time  to  catch  the  odor, 
or  else  at  night,  after  everything  has  quieted 
down.  As  the  spots  enlarge  the  central  portion 
retains  at  first  a  pale  greenish  yellow  color,  soon 
becoming  a  pale  buff,  with  a  more  or  less  distinct 
margin  of  umber.  Surrounding  this  is  a  ring  re- 
taining some  of  the  pale  yellow  green,  but  almost 
transparent.  Immediately  around  this  is  a  ring 
of  a  green  slightly  paler  than  the  surrounding  por- 
tion of  the  leaf,  but  appearing  darker  when 
held  between  the  observer  and  the  light. 

Usually  when  the  spots  have  reached  this  stage 
the  semi-transparent  ring  either  becomes  trans- 


164 


DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 


49.— Spot  disease  on  hardy  English  Violets. 


SPOT,    OR    SPOT    DISEASE.  165 

parent,  in  which  case  the  marginal  ring  almost 
disappears,  or  else  loses  all  its  green,  remaining  a 
pale  buff  and  retaining  its  marginal  ring.  Often 
several  adjacent  spots  unite  and  form  larger 
ones,  but  the  centers  of  the  uniting  spots  always 
remain  distinct.  Spots  which  have  become  en- 
tirely transparent  except  at  the  center  may  be  in- 
cluded in  the  enlarging  spots,  remaining  visible 
as  transparent  areas  in  the  large  buff  spot.  From 
the  appearance  of  the  small,  sunken  areas  in  the 
center  of  the  spots,  many  erroneous  views  as  to 
the  relation  of  insects  to  the  disease  have  arisen. 

A  few  days  of  damp,  cloudy  weather  will  cause 
the  development  of  reproductive  bodies  upon 
many  of  the  spots.  These  appear  to  the  naked 
eye  as  innumerable  blackish,  tiny,  hair-like  points. 
Each  spot  is  capable  of  producing  thousands  of 
the  spores,  and  each  spore  is  able,  under  the  proper 
conditions,  to  germinate  and  grow,  and  in  so  doing 
infect  a  healthy  leaf  or  a  healthy  portion  of  the  same 
leaf.  The  spores,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  are  wafted 
about  in  the  air  and  are  constantly  settling  down 
on  the  plants,  where  they  only  await  favorable 
conditions  to  grow  into  the  leaf  and  produce  other 
spots.  We  have  made  experiments  which  show 
that  in  ten  hours  of  one  night,  under  ordinary 
conditions  existing  in  a  greenhouse,  fifty  to  sixty 
of  these  spores  will  settle  on  a  space  three  inches 
in  diameter.  Every  spore  is  able  to  produce  a 
spot,  and  the  only  reason  that  they  do  not  do  so 


i66 


DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 


is   probably   because  the  conditions  are  unfavor- 
able for  development. 

It  is  evident  from  what  has  been  said  that  the 
more  spotted  leaves  there  are  in  a  house  the 
more  chances  there  are  for  infection.  Here,  there - 


50. — Spot  disease  artificially  produced. 

fore,  is  one  of  the  most  important  points  in  keep- 
ing the  disease  in  check:  Every  spot  must  be 
removed  and  burned  as  soon  as  it  is  seen,  and  in 


SPOT,     OR    SPOT    DISEASE.  1 67 

no  case  must  the  diseased  leaves  be  thrown  into 
the  walk  or  behind  the  pipes  to  rot  and  spread 
the  fungus.  When  a  leaf  is  badly  affected  it  is 
best  to  remove  it  entirely,  but  when  there  are 
only  a  few  spots  on  a  leaf,  these  can  be  pinched  or 
cut  out  and  the  rest  of  the  leaf  saved. 

It  is  folly  to  postpone  this  work,  for  every  day 
adds  to  the  chances  against  getting  the  disease 
under  control.  We  do  not  advocate  the  applica- 
tion of  any  fungicide.  We  have  tried  many 
things,  including  Bordeaux  mixture,  lime,  sulphur, 
ammoniacal  solution  of  copper  carbonate,  etc., 
but  have  never  yet  found  any  good  evidence  that 
they  are  beneficial. 

In  addition  to  the  strictest  attention  in  keep- 
ing the  plants  clean,  no  effort  should  be  spared  to 
furnish  the  best  conditions  for  growth.  Attend 
rigidly  to  watering,  ventilating,  and  firing.  Keep 
all  water  from  the  foliage,  for  wherever  the  leaves 
stay  wet  for  "seventeen  to  twenty  hours  succes- 
sively spot  is  pretty  sure  to  develop.  From  the 
twentieth  of  August  until  the  twentieth  of  Novem- 
ber is  the  period  in  which  spot  is  most  to  be  feared 
and  watched.  If  the  plants  can  be  successfully 
brought  through  this  period  they  are  practically 
safe,  unless  unusual  conditions  arise. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  be  seen  how 
important  it  is  to  have  the  plants  where  they  will 
at  all  times  be  under  control.  In  frames  and  in 
fields  this  is  practically  impossible,  as  there  they 


1 68  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

are  constantly  exposed  to  rain  and  dew.  Much 
benefit  may  be  derived,  however,  by  shading  the 
plants  in  some  way.  Rain  does  not  seem  to  give 
as  much  trouble  as  dew.  This  is  probably  owing  to 
the  fact  that  rain  washes  the  spores  from  the 
leaves  before  they  have  an  opportunity  to  germin- 
ate, while  in  the  case  of  dew  the  moisture  comes  on 
so  gradually  that  the  very  best  conditions  are  fur- 
nished for  the  germination  and  development  of  the 
fungus.  A  shading  of  laths  or  a  screen  of  any  kind 
will  often  be  sufficient  to  protect  the  plants  from 
dew,  and  thus  in  a  measure  ward  off  the  spot. 
However,  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  the 
plants  be  under  cover  as  soon  after  the  middle  of 
August  as  possible,  for  wherever  they  are  left 
outside  the  danger  from  infection  is  very  much 
increased. 

Everything  that  has  a  tendency  to  weaken 
the  foliage  must  be  avoided.  Too  much  fertilizer 
will  often  cause  a  tender  growth  of  leaves,  and 
when  in  such  condition  spot  is  very  apt  to  appear 
if  several  days  of  warm,  cloudy  weather  come  on. 
One  of  the  greatest  sources  of  injury  is  tobacco  in 
the  form  of  smoke.  Many  growers  use  tobacco 
for  combating  insects,  but  in  our  experience  it  is 
found  very  dangerous  and  apt  to  cause  serious 
trouble.  The  nicotine  in  the  tobacco  has  the 
power  of  weakening  the  tissues  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  spot  fungus  finds  it  an  easy  matter  to 
infect  the  foliage.  A  light  fumigation  seldom 


SPOT,    OR    SPOT    DISEASE.  169 

produces  any  injury,  but  where  several  fumiga- 
tions are  made  in  close  succession  damage  is  al- 
most sure  to  result.  Spraying  the  leaves  with 
tobacco  water  is  apt  to  produce  similar  effects,  and 
for  this  reason  we  have  abandoned  the  use  of 
tobacco  entirely. 

Much  evidence  could  be  adduced  to  show  the 
deleterious  action  of  tobacco,  but  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  go  into  details  upon  this  matter,  as  one  or 
two  examples  will  suffice.  In  one  instance  green 
aphis  was  causing  considerable  trouble  in  our 
houses,  and  in  order  to  destroy  it  we  fumigated 
heavily  with  tobacco  for  two  or  three  nights.  Im- 
mediately following  the  fumigation,  spot  appeared 
to  an  alarming  extent,  and  it  required  several 
months  of  hard  work  and  extra  precautions  to  get 
rid  of  it.  We  did  not  realize  at  the  time  the  con- 
nection of  the  fumigation  with  the  trouble,  but 
afterwards  it  was  brought  to  our  attention  in  a 
number  of  other  ways,  and  has  been  proved  many 
times  since. 

Finally,  it  may  be  said  that  if  careful  atten- 
tion has  been  given  to  cultural  work  throughout 
the  entire  season,  little  trouble  need  be  apprehend- 
ed from  this  disease.  It  is  only  where  the  grow- 
er has  been  careless  in  certain  directions  that 
trouble  is  likely  to  ensue.  Many  have  the  unfor- 
tunate habit  of  neglecting  little  details  here  and 
there,  and  then  when  the  disease  appears  making 
a  gigantic  effort  to  get  rid  of  it.  If  attention  had 


170  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

been  given  to  minor  matters  throughout  the 
entire  season  the  chances  are  that  the  disease 
would  not  have  appeared  and  that  there  would 
have  been  no  serious  loss  in  consequence.  When 
the  disease  has  reached  a  severe  form,  the  flowers 
are  practically  worthless  and  the  only  thing  that 
can  be  done  is  to  put  forth  every  effort  to  get  the 
plants  into  a  healthy  condition  as  soon  as  possible. 
Briefly  therefore:  Keep  the  plants  at 
all  times  in  a  healthy  growing  con- 
dition. Rigidly  destroy  all  diseased 
parts  of  the  plant.  Never  apply 
water  to  the  leaves  in  such  a  way 
that  they  cannot  dry  in  from  four 
to  five  hours.  Keep  the  leaves  free 
from  dew.  Avoid  fumigation  with 
tobacco,  but  if  tobacco  is  used,  make 
the  smoke  as  light  as  possible. 

Witt,  or  Stem  Rot,  Next  in  importance  to 
spot  is  wilt,  or  stem  rot.  In  fact  in  many  sections 
the  stem  rot  causes  more  trouble  than  the  spot. 
The  disease  is  as  a  rule  confined  to  the  stems,  al- 
though it  frequently  attacks  the  roots,  but  it  never 
produces  the  injury  there  that  it  does  when  the 
stems  are  affected.  We  have  rarely  seen  a  plant 
wholly  free  from  this  trouble,  although  in  many 
instances  it  does  not  produce  any  appreciable  in- 
jury. This  disease  is  also  due  to  a  fungus,  which 
lives  in  the  tissues  and  about  which  comparatively 
little  is  known.  So  far,  we  know  it  chiefly  through 


WILT,     OR    STEM    ROT. 


its  effects,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  re- 
lation of  the  particular  species  to  the  disease  in 


51—  Rooted  Campbell  cuttings,  showing  effects  of  Thielavia 

on  the  roots.    Plant  on  left  diseased,  plant  on 

right  healthy. 

question.     The  fungus  is  known  as  Thielavia 
basicola  Zopf,   and  it  attacks  other  plants  be- 


172  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

sides  the  violet.  It  undoubtedly  is  able  to  live  at 
certain  times  on  decaying  organic  matter;  in  fact, 
it  is  found  in  portions  of  leaves,  straw,  and  other 
materials  occuring  in  the  sand  and  soil.  From 
the  fact  that  it  occurs  on  bits  of  decaying  leaves 
it  is  important  to  have  the  propagating  sand 
absolutely  free  from  organic  matter.  Infection 
in  a  great  many  cases  takes  place  in  the  propagat- 
ing bed  and  soil.  The  cutting  may  root  readily 
and  to  the  casual  observer  may  appear  sound,  but 
it  is  infected  nevertheless  and  later  on  will  show 
the  trouble. 

Plants  affected  with  this  disease  may  make  a 
good  growth  throughout  the  summer  and  show  no 
evidence  of  trouble  until  September  or  perhaps 
October,  when  they  will  wilt  more  or  less  during 
the  warmer  portions  of  the  day  and  revive  during 
the  night.  This  may  go  on  for  a  week  or  more, 
but  finally  they  wilt  completely  and  die.  An  exam- 
ination of  such  plants  shows  that  the  main  stem 
has  been  practically  girdled  by  the  fungus,  and 
that  both  the  water  and  the  food  supply  have  there- 
by been  effectually  cut  off.  The  alternate  wilting 
and  reviving  of  the  plants  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  fungus  does  its  work  slowly  and  thus  it  requires 
considerable  time  to  completely  encircle  the  stem. 
The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  a  plant  of  this  kind  is 
probably  infected  early  in  its  life  and  for  months 
the  fungus  slowly  grows,  gradually  destroying 
cell  after  cell  until  finally  the  plant  collapses. 


WILT,    OR    STEM    ROT.  173 

Unquestionably  another  fruitful  source  of  in- 
fection comes  about  through  the  practice  of  pulling 
off  partly  decayed  leaves  from  the  young  plants 
as  they  are  growing.  It  is,  of  course,  necessary  to 
keep  the  plants  clean,  but  in  all  cases  a  knife 
should  be  used  for  trimming  both  leaves  and  cut- 
tings. If  a  leaf  is  pulled  off  it  frequently  leaves  a 
scar  on  the  stem  and  this  scar  offers  an  excellent 
opening  for  the  fungus,  which  is  likely  to  be  present 
in  the  soil  or  on  decaying  bits  of  organic  matter 
surrounding  the  plant.  If  the  leaf  is  cut  off, 
leaving  a  short  stem,  the  wound  heals  before  the 
fungus  has  an  opportunity  to  gain  entrance. 

The  method  of  propagation  has  an  important 
bearing  on  the  trouble  and  for  this  reason  we  have 
been  profuse  in  our  statements  regarding  the  im- 
portance of  using  only  vigorous  stock.  The  prac- 
tice of  dividing  the  plants  carries  some  of  the  dis- 
ease over  each  year,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  if  this 
is  kept  up  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  the 
stock  will  become  so  weakened  as  to  be  practically 
worthless.  The  advantage  of  rooting  cuttings  in 
sand  that  is  absolutely  clean  is  also  apparent,  for  in 
such  cases  the  fungus,  which  might  be  in  the 
young  roots  taken  from  the  soil,  is  eliminated. 
Where  the  plants  are  simply  divided  and  even 
where  they  are  removed  as  offshoots  early  in  the 
spring,  the  young  roots  often  show  the  disease. 
The  difficulty,  however,  is  most  serious  where  the 
fungus  has  attacked  the  stem,  for  in  such  cases  the 


174  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

plant  will  eventually  succumb.  When  a  rootlet  is 
once  affected  it  may  be  destroyed  and  still  the 
working  of  the  plant  need  not  necessarily  be 
seriously  interfered  with.  Continuous  use  of  the 
same  soil  is  also  a  fruitful  source  of  propagating 
the  disease.  The  longer  the  soil  is  used,  of 
course,  the  more  decaying  roots  there  will  be 
present  and  the  more  chances  for  infection 
through  such  material. 

Summarizing,  therefore,  the  principal  ways 
of  holding  this  disease  in  check  are  careful  at- 
tention to  the  propagation  of  stock,  extreme  care 
as  to  the  kind  of  sand  and  soil  employed,  and  the 
exercise  of  rigid  precautions  in  the  matter  of 
examination  of  plants  before  they  are  finally  set 
in  the  beds. 

Nanism,  or  Stuntedness.  The  dwarfing  and 
stunting  of  a  plant  is  not  generally  looked  upon 
as  a  disease.  Nevertheless,  so  far  as  we  are 
concerned,  it  is  a  true  disease  because  it  has 
a  marked  effect  in  reducing  the  income.  It  is 
not  uncommon  to  find  among  a  number  of 
violet  plants  some  which  show  quite  different 
characters  from  the  ordinary,  so  far  as  size  is  con- 
cerned. In  such  cases  the  whole  plant  is  more  or 
less  dwarfed.  The  leaves  are  small,  the  leaf 
stalks  are  short,  and  the  offshoots  which  go  to 
make  up  the  crown  are  also  short.  When 
such  a  plant  blooms  the  flower  stalks  are  also 
short  and  the  flowers  in  most  cases  are  small. 


NANISM,    OR    STUNTEDNESS. 


Of  course  this  dwarfing,  or  stuntedness,  varies 
much  in  degree.  Some  plants  will  not  be  more 
than  one-fourth  the  normal  size,  while  there  will 
be  all  grades  between  this  and  where  the  dwarf- 
ing is  so  slight  as  to  be  hardly  recognizable. 


52. — Plants  stunted  by  strong  fertilizer. 

An  examination  of  such  plants  reveals  the  fact 
that  no  external  agencies  in  the  nature  of  fungi 
or  insects  have  caused  the  trouble.  The  roots 


1 76  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

appear  to  be  free  from  organisms  of  all  kinds, 
and  the  stems  and  leaves  are  also  free,  except  in 
some  cases,  where  red  spider  may  be  present, 
but  not  in  sufficient  quantity  to  account  for  the 
dwarfed  growth  of  the  plants. 

This  dwarfing  or  stunting  may  be  brought 
about  by  a  number  of  causes.  Anything  in  fact 
which  has  a  tendency  to  check  growth  may  result 
in  permanent  dwarfing,  but  it  is  particularly  at 
the  time  when  the  plant  is  young  that  injury  is 
likely  to  occur.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the 
cuttings  when  taken  from  the  parent  plant  are  not 
fully  mature,  and  if  rooted  in  sand  or  soil  at  this 
time  they  will  never  make  as  strong  or  vigorous 
plants  as  those  made  from  fully  ripened  wood. 
Again,  the  wood  may  become  so  hard  that  its 
growth  is  to  a  certain  extent  fixed.  Such  a  cut- 
ting would  also  be  apt  to  produce  a  dwarfed  plant, 
for  the  reason  that  the  check  which  it  has  received 
can  never  be  entirely  overcome.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  wood  may  be  of  the  proper  nature  and 
the  cutting  in  all  other  respects  good,  and  yet 
in  handling  after  it  is  separated  from  the  parent 
plant,  certain  checks  may  be  brought  about  which 
will  result  in  permanent  injury  and  a  dwarfed  or 
stunted  plant.  Too  much  or  too  little  water  in 
the  propagating  bed  may  bring  about  these  re- 
sults. Lack  of  water  is  often  a  fruitful  source  of 
injury  in  this  connection.  The  plants  do  not  nec- 
essarily have  to  be  dried  out  to  such  an  extent 


NANISM,     OR    STUNTEDNESS.  177 

that  they  wilt,  but  the  gradual  withholding  of  a 
sufficient  amount  of  water  has  a  tendency  to  cause 
all  the  growing  cells  to  assume  a  fixed  form,  and 
from  this  they  never  recover  even  after  they  are 
moved  into  more  favorable  conditions.  After  the 
plants  are  rooted,  furthermore,  injuries  of  the 
same  kind  may  occur. 

It  may  happen  that  in  planting,  warm 
weather  comes  on,  and  as  a  result  it  is  difficult  to 
keep  the  plants  supplied  with  a  sufficient  amount 
of  moisture  and  the  roots  in  consequence  will  be 
injured.  This  results  finally  in  a  permanent 
check,  from  which  the  plant  never  fully  recovers. 
Furthermore,  if  plants  are  exposed  to  too  much 
bright  sunlight  they  are  apt  to  become  stunted  on 
account  of  the  intensity  of  both  heat  and  light. 
This  shows  the  necessity  of  some  kind  of  shade 
through  the  growing  season,  for  the  violet 
naturally  does  not  grow  in  the  open,  but  as  a  rule 
is  found  in  shady,  moist  places,  away  from  the 
direct  effects  of  the  sun. 

From  what  has  been  said  in  regard  to  the 
cause  of  the  trouble,  the  means  of  preventing  it 
will  become  apparent.  Every  effort  should 
be  put  forth  to  keep  the  plant  in  a 
thoroughly  healthy  growing  condition 
from  the  time  it  is  started  until  it  is 
thrown  out  in  the  spring.  No  checks 
of  any  kind  should  be  allowed,  for  the  more  there 
are  of  these  the  more  likely  is  the  output  of 


178  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

flowers  to  be  reduced.  This  only  emphasizes  the 
statement  already  made,  that  diseases  are  largely 
the  result  of  improper  methods  of  culture,  and 
the  overlooking  of  important  facts  in  regard  to 
handling  the  plants. 

Scald,  or  Edge  Burn,  This  disease  as  a  rule 
is  not  serious,  although  under  certain  conditions  it 
may  become  quite  troublesome  and  materially 
affect  the  yield  of  flowers.  It  manifests  itself 
first  by  the  edges  of  the  leaves  turning  a  yellowish 


53.— Edge  burn,  brought  on  by  cold  soil. 

green.  A  few  days  later  this  color  may  gradually 
fade  out  to  almost  white,  and  eventually  the  en- 
tire edge  of  the  leaf  will  become  a  papery  whitish 
color.  The  trouble  is  usually  confined  to  a  rim 
running  around  the  outer  edge  of  the  leaf.  This 
rim  varies  in  width  from  one-sixteenth  to  one- 


SCALD,     OR    EDGE    BURN.  179 

quarter  of  an  inch.  Under  exceptional  circum- 
stances nearly  the  entire  leaf  may  be  involved, 
and  there  is  then  left  only  a  small  green  area  in 
the  center.  Once  the  injury  is  done,  there  is  of 
course  no  remedy,  and  all  efforts  should  be  made 
to  keep  the  plants  in  such  a  condition  that  the 
trouble  cannot  be  brought  on. 

One  serious  after  effect  of  the  difficulty  is  the 
liability  of  the  plant  to  be  attacked  by  a  number  of 
species  of  fungi.  Although  fungi  are  not  the 
direct  cause  of  the  trouble,  there  are  many  species 
which  will  attack  partly  dead  tissues  and  from 
them  extend  into  the  healthy  parts  of  the  leaf. 
It  is  not  uncommon,  therefore,  to  find  plants 
affected  with  this  scald,  or  edge  burn,  collapsing 
from  the  effects  of  fungi  which  have  first  attacked 
the  diseased  portions  and  through  them  have 
gained  sufficient  strength  to  destroy  the  unaffected 
parts  of  the  leaves. 

A  species  of  Botrytis  is  very  apt  to  work  on 
such  affected  parts,  especially  if  the  weather  is 
damp  and  the  sun  does  not  shine  for  several  days 
in  succession.  The  tissues  in  such  cases  get  soft 
and  slimy  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  keep  the 
plants  clean. 

The  trouble  may  be  brought  on  by  a  number 
of  causes.  It  is  often  the  result  of  using  strong 
liquid  manure,  either  organic  or  in  the  form  of 
chemical  fertilizers.  Such  liquids  when  applied 
to  the  soil  and  roots  seem  to  temporarily  check  the 


54.— Leaves  and  flowers  injured  by  Botrytis. 


SCALD,    OR    EDGE    BURN.  l8t 

latter  to  such  an  extent  that  they  cannot  take  up 
water  or  food.  In  case  the  sun  is  warm  at  such 
times  and  the  light  bright  the  young  and  tender 
portions  of  the  leaves,  namely,  the  edges,  will  not 
have  sufficient  moisture  to  serve  for  growth.  If 
these  conditions  continue  the  moisture  stored  in 
the  cells  is  used  up  and  then  the  latter  collapse  as 
a  result.  The  disease  may  be  brought  on  by 
allowing  the  soil  to  get  too  cold.  It  is  quite 
common  to  see  plants  next  to  the  outer  walls 
of  the  house  showing  this  difficulty.  This  is 
especially  the  case  where  there  is  no  air  space  be- 
tween the  bed  proper  and  the  outer  wall.  The 
cold  from  the  outside  is  sufficient  to  stop  the 
proper  working  of  the  roots,  and  in  consequence 
the  parts  of  tae  plant  above  ground  suffer  as 
described 

In  certain  types  of  heavy  soils,  that  is,  soils 
containing  too  much  water,  the  trouble  is  likely  to 
occur.  It  must  be  understood  that  the  roots  of 
plants  require  air  as  well  as  water.  If  all  or 
nearly  all  the  air  spaces  in  the  soil  are  filled  up 
with  water  the  roots  will  suffocate  and  the  plants 
in  consequence  suffer.  The  difficulty  resulting 
from  cold  soil  can  easily  be  overcome  for  the 
reason  that  it  is  rarely  found  except  around  the 
edges  of  the  house.  A  board  set  in  so  as  to  inter- 
vene between  the  wall  and  the  soil  outside  is 
often  sufficient  to  prevent  the  trouble.  It  is 
better,  however,  to  have  two  boards,  with  a  space 


l82  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

of  four  or  five  inches  between.  This  allows  an 
air  space  and  the  air  in  the  house  is  sufficiently 
warm  to  keep  the  soil  in  the  beds  next  to  the 
board  warm  enough  for  root  growth. 

By  attending  to  the  conditions  mentioned, 
looking  carefully  after  watering,  and  seeing  that 
the  soil  is  not  too  heavy,  little  trouble  need  be 
feared  from  this  disease. 

Oedema,  or  Wart  Disease.  This  trouble  often 
proves  quite  serious,  but  is  easily  kept  under 
control  by  the  proper  handling  of  the  plants. 
The  affected  plants  show  wart-like  growths  over 
the  leaves  and  these  are  usually  of  a  brownish 
color.  These  warty  growths  vary  in  size,  some 
of  them  being  quite  small  and  others  one-eighth 
of  an  inch  long  and  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  high. 
The  corky  growths  are  not  confined  wholly  to 
the  leaves.  In  fact,  they  frequently  occur  on  the 
leaf  stalks  and  sometimes  on  the  flower  stalks 
also.  It  is  found  that  where  these  warty 
formations  are  developed  the  whole  leaf  is  in  a 
peculiar  condition.  It  is  brittle  and  when  taken 
in  the  hand  cracks  very  easily.  The  leaves,  in 
other  words,  instead  of  having  a  live,  elastic  feel, 
appear  to  the  touch  to  be  dry  like  a  shaving,  and 
when  bent  will  break  with  a  cracking  noise. 
Wherever  a  break  of  this  kind  occurs  the  corky 
growth  appears  in  time.  The  corky  formations 
may  also  develop  wherever  an  insect  punctures  the 
leaves.  The  punctures  of  aphides  and  the  bites 


OEDEMA,     OR    WART    DISEASE.  183 

of  spiders  cause  many  of  these  swellings.  When 
the  plant  gets  into  this  condition  it  is  practically 
unfit  for  flowering,  and  when  badly  diseased  it  is 


55. — Oedema,  or  wart  disease. 

very  difficult  to  ever  get  it  into  proper  shape  again. 
The  trouble  is  one  that  is  brought  on  gradually 
by  improper  relations  between  the  moisture  of  the 
soil,  moisture  of  the  air,  and  the  light. 


184  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

Where  plants  are  mulched  and  the  soil  kept 
constantly  wet  the  trouble  is  likely  to  follow, 
especially  if  heavy  shading  is  adopted.  Where 
the  plant  is  grown  for  some  time  under  these 
conditions  all  of  its  tissues  get  into  a  dropsical 
or  oedemic  state,  and  it  needs  only  an  injury  of 
some  kind  to  cause  the  formation  of  the  wart-like 
growths.  If  the  conditions  are  very  favorable,  in- 
juries are  not  necessary  for  the  wart-like  growths, 
as  they  will  be  produced  by  the  plant  without 
intervention  of  anything  of  this  kind.  This  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  plant  is  really  making  an 
abnormal  effort  at  growth  and  the  warts  are 
nothing  more  than  excessive  growth  of  the  cells 
at  particular  points.  This  trouble  seldom  occurs 
in  houses  properly  lighted  and  ventilated.  In 
underground  pits  and  in  outdoor  frames  where 
heavy  shading  is  used  it  is  apt  to  occur,  especially 
if  the  practice  of  mulching  is  adopted. 

By  paying  proper  attention  to  light,  ventila- 
tion, and  watering,  little  or  no  difficulty  is  experi- 
enced from  the  trouble.  In  case  it  is  seen  that 
plants  are  becoming  oedemic  it  will  be  necessary 
to  at  once  modify  the  surroundings  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  admit  more  light  to  the  leaves  and 
more  air  to  the  soil.  It  will  not  do,  however,  to 
bring  about  these  changes  too  rapidly.  Light 
should  be  gradually  given  and  the  amount  of 
water  added  to  the  soil  should  be  slowly  dimin- 
ished. If  the  change  is  too  abrupt  serious 


CROWN     ROT. 


•85 


consequences  may  result,  as  the  plant  having  been 
grown  under  such  abnormal  conditions  is  not  able 
to  withstand  the  unusual  exposure  to  bright  light 
and  dry  soil  which  the  sudden  change  might  bring 
about. 


56.— Crown  rot. 

Crown    Rot*      This    trouble   is   very   apt    to 
occur  after  the  opening  of  the  blooming  season, 


1 86  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

especially  if  the  crowns  are  heavy  and  too  much 
water  is  used  for  syringing  or  other  purposes.     It 
is  often  found  in  houses  made  of  sash,  where  the 
drips  keep  the  crowns  of  the  plant  constantly  wet 
for  days  at  a  time.      In  such  cases  the  inner  or 
youngest  leaves  of    the  crown   become  softened 
and  through  the  action  of  several  species  of  fungi 
are  in  a  short  time  reduced  to  a  soft,   slimy  mass. 
The  trouble  is  sometimes  quite  serious,  as  all 
the   young   inner   growth    is   destroyed   and   the 
flower  buds  of  course  perish   with   them.       The 
difficulty,    as    already    pointed    out,    is    brought 
about  largely  by  the  improper  use  of  water.      Of 
course  in  houses  where  there  are  many  drips  it  is 
impossible  to  keep  the  crowns  dry.      As  soon  as 
the    trouble   is    noticed,    however,    the   diseased 
leaves  should  be  cleaned  out  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
the  remaining  leaves  pushed  apart,  and  the  crowns 
opened  so  as  to  admit  light  and  air.       Where  the 
crowns  are  very  heavy  some  advantage  may  result 
by  trimming  out  part  of  the  leaves,  but  this  of 
course  will  more  or  less  interfere  with  the  flower- 
ing of  the  plant. 

A  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  air-slacked  lime 
and  flowers  of  sulphur  is  frequently  beneficial  in 
cases  of  this  kind.  The  two  materials  should  be 
thoroughly  mixed  and  thrown  into  the  crown  with 
considerable  force  so  as  to  reach  the  rotting  parts. 
Lime  alone  is  beneficial,  but  the  sulphur  has  a 
tendency  to  destroy  the  fungi  present  and  in  a 


ROOT    GALLS,     OR    NEMATODES.  187 

measure  to  check  the  growth  of  other  organisms. 
In  properly  constructed  houses,  where  the  drip  is 
reduced  to  a  minimum,  little  difficulty  is  ever 
experienced  from  this  disease.  The  trouble  is,  of 
course,  much  more  apt  to  be  serious  where  the 
plants  are  over-grown,  and  for  this  reason  the 
directions  given  in  regard  to  proper  time  of  plant- 
ing and  the  handling  of  the  plants  should  be 
closely  followed. 

Root  Galls,  or  Nematodes.  Although  this 
disease  is  caused  by  a  minute  parasitic  worm,  it  is 
classified  with  diseases  for  the  reason  that  it  affects 
the  entire  plant  and  could  not  be  properly  treated 
under  the  heading  of  insects.  Plants  badly  in- 
fested with  nematodes  are  apt  to  show  a  dwarfed 
growth,  the  leaves  being  small  and  the  leaf  stalks 
and  flower  stalks  short.  This  is  what  might  be 
expected  from  the  fact  that  these  minute  parasites 
attack  the  roots  and  through  their  action  on  them 
cut  off  the  food  supply.  The  infested  plants  upon 
being  removed  from  the  soil  show  on  the  rootlets 
innumerable  small  nodules,  varying  in  size  from 
a  pin-head  to  a  large  pea.  Although  nematodes 
are  considered  by  some  writers  as  a  great  menace 
to  violet  growing,  we  have  never  seen  any  serious 
injury  produced  by  them.  In  fact,  our  experience 
leads  us  to  believe  that  nematodes,  instead  of 
being  actually  injurious,  are  more  apt  to  be  bene- 
ficial. We  cannot  speak  of  course  of  the  effects 
of  nematodes  where  the  soil  has  been  allowed  to 


i88 


DISEASES    AND     INSECT    ENEMIES. 


become  full  of  them  through  neglect  and  other 
causes.  Where  the  soil  has  not  been  properly 
handled  or  where  it  is  allowed  to  remain  in  use 
for  several  years,  nematodes  are  very  apt  to  infest 


57. — Nematodes,  or  root  galls. 

it  to  such  an  extent  as  to  become  a  serious  pest. 
Ordinarily,  however,  where  the  soil  is  changed 
every  year  and  where  new  plants  are  put  in  each 
season  the  nematodes  are  not  sufficiently  numer- 


ROOT  GALLS,  OR  NEMATODES.          189 

ous  to  really  prove  serious.  It  often  happens 
that  some  of  the  best  flowering  plants  will  show 
quantities  of  nematodes  on  the  roots  at  the  close 
of  the  season.  So  far  as  appearances  go,  such 
plants  show  no  indication  whatever  of  disease, 
and  if  it  were  not  for  the  effect  of  the  nematodes 
it  is  very  probable  that  vegetative  growth  would 
have  been  so  excessive  as  to  have  interfered  seri- 
ously with  the  formation  of  flower  buds.  We 
look,  therefore,  on  nematodes  as  in  a  measure 
being  able  to  keep  the  proper  balance  between 
root  growth  and  leaf  growth.  They  act  partly  as 
root  pruners,  so  to  speak,  and  by  their  action 
have  a  tendency  to  cause  the  plants  to  throw 
their  energy  towards  flowering  rather  than  towards 
leaf  production.  We  would  not  have  it  inferred 
from  this  that  we  advocate  encouraging  the 
attacks  of  nematodes,  but  we  do  not  believe  it 
desirable  to  go  to  any  great  expense,  such  as 
steaming  the  soil,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  them 
in  check.  If  the  soil  is  properly  handled  and 
allowed  to  freeze  thoroughly  once  or  twice  in  the 
early  part  of  the  season,  a  large  number  of  the 
nematodes  are  probably  destroyed.  However,  no 
matter  what  action  of  this  kind  is  followed  there 
will  always  be  some  present,  but  they  need  not 
cause  any  serious  uneasiness. 

We  have  experimented  with  sterilized  soil 
and  have  been  able  to  grow  plants  practically  free 
from  the  worms.  Such  plants  made  a  most 


190  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES 

remarkable  growth  and  the  leaf  development  was 
so  great  that  it  seriously  interfered  with  the  pro- 
duction of  flowers.  Furthermore,  we  found  that 
the  plants  were  making  such  rapid  growth  and 
were  becoming  so  tender  and  soft  at  the  approach 
of  the  spot  season  that  great  difficulty  was  experi- 
enced in  warding  off  this  disease.  On  the  whole, 
this  question  may  be  summed  up  by  saying  that 
by  proper  attention  to  the  care  of  the  soil  and  of 
the  plants  little  trouble  need  be  apprehended 
from  nematodes,  and  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
adopt  the  expensive  method  of  sterilizing  the  soil. 

INSECTS  AND  OTHER  PESTS. 

Red  Spider.  This  little  pest,  which  is  really 
not  a  spider,  but  a  mite,  is  one  of  the  worst 
enemies  with  which  violet  growers  have  to  deal. 
It  is  present  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  and  is 
ready  at  all  times  to  begin  its  destructive  work  if 
allowed  to  do  so.  It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the 
damage  these  mites  do  to  plants,  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  seldom  that  any  plants  are  entirely  free 
from  them  and  no  fair  comparisons  can  therefore 
be  made.  Ordinarily  when  there  are  only  a  few 
of  the  mites  present  the  plants  show  no  external 
evidence  of  their  attacks.  As  the  numbers  in- 
crease, however,  the  leaves  gradually  become 
yellowish  and  dwarfed,  and  eventually  the  whole 
plant  succumbs,  unless  action  is  taken  to  rid  it  of 
the  pest. 


RED    SPIDER.  IQI 

Cuttings  or  young  rooted  plants  are  especially 
liable  to  be  seriously  injured  by  spider.  This  is 
particularly  true  in  spring-  after  the  growing 
season  starts.  The  mites  multiply  rapidly  at  this 
time,  and  unless  the  plants  are  carefully  .watched 
they  will  soon  be  so  badly  infested  that  it  will  be 
exceedingly  difficult  to  restore  them  to  a  normal 
condition.  In  fact,  it  is  questionable  if 
a  plant  once  badly  infested  with  spiders 
can  ever  be  restored  to  the  normal 
state.  The  mites  by  their  action  slowly  reduce 
vitality,  and  not  only  one,  but  all  functions  of  the 
plant  are  probably  more  or  less  affected  by  them. 
In  this  way  the  whole  nature  of  the  plant  is  more 
or  less  changed  as  it  is  really  suffering  from  a 
slow  starvation.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that 
the  ultimate  effects  will  be  a  checking  or  stunting 
of  some  kind,  and,  as  already  pointed  out,  every- 
thing of  this  nature  must  be  carefully  avoided. 

On  plants  which  have  been  grown  the  entire 
winter  in  a  house  or  even  in  frames,  the  mite 
sometimes  develops  to  such  an  extent  in  late 
spring  as  to  entirely  destroy  all  growth.  Millions 
of  spiders  will  be  found  on  the  foliage,  and  their 
webs,  which  are  rarely  seen  under  ordinary  con- 
ditions, stretch  from  plant  to  plant  and  spiders  of 
all  sizes  will  be  found  passing  rapidly  over  them 
and  congregating  in  swarms  like  bees. 

An  examination  of  the  leaves  of  violets 
infested  with  spiders,  shows  mites  of  various  sizes 


192 


DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 


and  the  eggs  from  which  they  are  hatched  will 
also  be  found  present  in  varying  numbers.  Ordi- 
narily the  eggs  are  spherical  and  almost  colorless. 
Under  a  slight  magnification  they  appear  like 


58.— Nozzle  used  in  spraying  plants  for  the  destruction  of 
red  spider. 

little  globules  of  dew,  but  upon  touching  them 
they  are  found  to  have  relatively  firm  walls.  The 
eggs  are  not  hatched  for  eight  or  ten  days  after 
being  deposited,  the  length  of  time  depending  in 


RED    SPIDER.  193 

a  large  measure  on  warmth  and  other  surround- 
ings. When  newly  hatched  the  spiders  are  very 
light  in  color.  In  fact,  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  masses  of  web  and  the  yellowish 
portions  of  the  affected  leaf.  As  the  spiders 
grow  older  they  molt  several  times,  and  finally 
attain  full  size,  when  their  color  is  more  or  less 
yellowish  red.  The  color,  however,  varies  greatly 
and  it  is  seldom  that  any  lot  on  two  different 
plants  are  found  to  be  exactly  alike. 

The  mites  are  exceedingly  difficult  to  kill  and 
for  this  reason  great  care  must  be  exercised  in 
not  allowing  them  to  attain  sufficient  numbers  to 
seriously  check  the  growth  of  the  plants  before 
putting  forth  efforts  to  destroy  them.  It  is  the 
general  belief  among  florists  that  spiders  do  not 
thrive  in  moist  air,  but  this  does  not  seem  to  be 
the  case, for  if  proper  conditions  are  present  moist 
air  alone  is  not  sufficient  to  hold  them  in  check. 

Tobacco,  either  in  the  form  of  smoke  or  ap- 
plied in  other  ways,  has  little  effect  upon  the 
mites  themselves  and  probably  does  not  injure 
the  eggs  in  the  least.  Fumigation,  therefore,  is 
useless  in  this  connection.  What  is  true  of 
tobacco  will  also  hold  good  with  other  poisonous 
gases,  such  as  cyanide  gas,  which  is  now  coming 
into  general  use  for  greenhouse  work.  When  we 
first  commenced  using  the  cyanide  gas  we  were 
hopeful  that  it  would  prove  valuable  in  destroying 
spider.  It  is  true  that  spiders  subjected  to  the 


194  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

fumes  of  this  gas  are  stupified  for  a  time,  but  they 
soon  recover  and  in  a  few  hours  are  as  active 
as  ever. 

Soaps  of  all  kinds  are  effective  in  destroying 
both  old  and  young  mites,  and  also  kill  a  large 
proportion  of  the  eggs.  On  account  of  the  diffi- 
culties in  using  soap,  however,  it  cannot  be 
generally  recommended,  but  for  certain  pur- 
poses, which  will  be  referred  to  later,  it  will 
be  found  very  useful. 

Water  applied  to  the  foliage  is  the  only 
effective  remedy  that  can  be  depended  upon  for 
this  pest.-^  It  must  be  applied,  however,  with  con- 
siderable force,  the  object  being  to  wash  both 
mites  and  eggs  from  the  leaves.  To  do  this 
successfully  and  at  the  same  time  not  injure  the 
plants  and  not  bring  about  conditions  favorable  for 
other  diseases,  such  as  spot,  is  a  difficult  problem. 
The  chief  point  in  this  work  is  to  keep  the  spiders 
so  thoroughly  in  check  that  by  the  time  the  plants 
have  attained  nearly  their  full  growth  in  the  fall, 
that  is,  by  the  middle  of  September,  spraying  can 
be  entirely  stopped,  and  from  that  time  on  during 
the  winter  little  or  no  water  need  be  applied  to 
the  foliage.  We  have  found  that  where  spiders 
are  washed  from  the  leaves  a  certain  per  cent  of 
them  get  back.  Many  are  killed  by  the  direct 
crushing  action  of  the  water,  and  thousands  not 
destroyed  in  this  way  are  knocked  off  into  the  soil 
and  probably  starve  to  death  before  they  can 


RED    SPIDER.  195 

again  reach  food.  From  two  to  three  per  cent  of 
all  mites  on  the  leaves  manage  to  get  back,  how- 
ever, and  this  shows  the  importance  and  necessity 
of  constant  attention  in  the  matter  of  spraying. 

If  the  young  plants  are  perfectly  free  from 
spider  when  set  out  in  the  spring  it  is  compara- 
tively easy  to  keep  them  so  by  spraying  from  two 
to  three  times  a  week  for  the  rest  of  the  growing 
season.  However,  if  cuttings  are  rather  badly 
infested  with  spider  we  recommend  their  treat- 
ment before  planting  with  a  solution  of  soap. 
We  have  tried  many  soaps  but  the  best  results 
have  been  obtained  from  ivory  soap,  used  at  the 
rate  of  one  five  cent  cake  to  six  or  seven  gallons  of 
water.  The  soap  should  be  shaved  up  with  a 
small  plane  and  dissolved  with  about  one  gallon  of 
hot  water,  and  then  sufficient  cold  water  added  to 
make  the  quantity  mentioned.  By  using  a  small 
hand  spraying  pump,  which  can  readily  be 
purchased  in  the  market  for  four  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  to  five  dollars,  the  leaves  can  be  thoroughly 
wetted  with  the  soap  solution  at  a  comparatively 
slight  expense  in  the  matter  of  material.  Five 
gallons,  in  fact,  will  be  sufficient  to  treat  three  or 
four  thousand  cuttings,  provided  they  are  in  flats 
and  are  easily  within  reach.  Allow  the  soap  to 
remain  on  the  plants  two  or  three  hours,  then 
thoroughly  syringe  with  clear  water.  This  treat- 
ment should  be  repeated  two  or  three  times,  until 
the  spiders  and  eggs  have  been  destroyed.  When 


196  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

used  in  this  way  the  soap  has  no  deleterious  effects 
on  the  plants  and  has  a  tendency  to  protect  and 
clean  the  foliage  much  better  than  any  preparation 
we  have  used.  Tobacco  water  is  sometimes  used 
for  this  purpose,  and  a  tobacco  solution  made  from 
an  extract  is  also  applied.  We  do  not  recommend 
these  preparations,  however,  because  they  have  a 
tendency  to  weaken  the  foliage. 

It  must  be  understood  that  it  is  not  safe  to 
use  strong  soaps,  such  as  whale  oil  and  soft  soaps, 
because  they  are  very  apt  to  injure  the  foliage  and 
are  not  so  active  in  killing  the  mites  as  the  ivory 
soap.  Spiders  treated  with  ivory  soap  die  in  one 
or  two  minutes  after  the  solution  is  applied. 
When  viewed  under  a  microscope  full  grown 
spiders  show  anxiety  to  get  rid  of  the  soap  as  soon 
as  it  reaches  them.  This  lasts  only  for  a  few 
seconds,  however,  and  then  the  spider  quickly 
folds  its  legs  beneath  itself  and  for  a  few  seconds 
there  may  be  some  violent  movements  of  the  legs 
and  other  parts  of  the  animal.  Even  if  moved  to 
fresh  water  a  few  minutes  after  soap  is  applied 
they  seldom  revive,  which  shows  how  effectually 
the  soap  operates. 

For  cuttings,  therefore,  the  soap  solution  as 
recommended  will  be  found  exceedingly  valuable. 
We  do  not  consider  it  advisable  to  continue  the 
application  of  soap  throughout  the  entire  season, 
for  the  reason  that  we  believe  it  has  a  tendency 
to  interfere  with  growth.  After  the  plants  are  put 


RED    SPIDER.  197 

out,  however,  spraying1  with  water  should  be  reg- 
ularly practiced,  as  before  described,  and  for  this 
purpose  it  will  be  found  desirable  to  devise  some 
means  of  getting  on  the  minimum  amount  of  water 
with  the  maximum  amount  of  force.  It  will  re- 
quire a  pressure  of  at  least  twenty  to  twenty-five 
pounds  to  prove  effective  against  spider.  To  get 
the  water  on,  however,  without  drenching  the  beds 
is  often  a  rather  difficult  matter,  and  for  this  rea. 
son  we  have  devised  a  simple  spraying  tip,  which 
is  found  to  answer  the  purpose  admirably.  This 
spraying  tip  may  be  attached  to  the  end  of  a  three- 
quarter  inch  hose,  or  where  the  beds  are  wide  we 
prefer  to  use  a  short  lance  made  of  light  brass  pipe. 
This  lance  is  one-quarter  inch  in  diameter  and 
usually  about  two  feet  long.  The  spraying  tip  is 
fastened  to  one  end,  while  the  other  end  is  provided 
with  a  connection  to  screw  on  to  the  three-quarter 
inch  hose.  The  tip  itself  consists  merely  of  a 
piece  of  brass  flattened  out  at  the  end  and  provided 
with  a  narrow  slit,  through  which  the  water  is 
forced.  This  slit  is  so  adjusted  that  the  water 
issues  through  it  in  much  the  shape  of  a  gas  flame, 
but,  of  course,  very  much  larger.  At  a  distance 
of  twenty  to  twenty-five  inches  from  the  end  of 
the  slit  the  water  breaks  up  into  innumerable  fine 
drops,  which  are  thoroughly  effective  in  washing 
the  spiders  from  the  leaves  and  not  injuring  the 
latter  in  the  least.  With  a  little  practice  the  beds 
can  be  gone  over  quickly  with  this  device,  and 


198  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

the  under  side  of  the  leaves  may  be  so  thoroughly 
washed  that  the  spiders  will  have  little  opportu- 
nity for  development.  If  this  practice  is  followed 
throughout  the  growing  season  the  plants  will 
be  able  to  go  into  winter  quarters  practically  free 
from  the  pest,  and  will,  therefore,  require  little 
additional  work  of  this  kind  during  the  winter. 
Whenever  it  is  necessary  to  spray  during  the 
winter,  the  work  must  be  done  on  a  bright  day  so 
that  the  plants  will  dry  off  in  a  few  hours.  Never 
spray  later  than  eleven  o'clock,  otherwise  the 
crowns  will  remain  wet  during  the  night. 

Green  and  Brown  Aphides,  Every  violet 
grower  is  probably  familiar  with  these  insects. 
Up  to  six  or  eight  years  ago  the  green  aphis 
was  about  the  only  one  that  ever  proved  trouble- 
some. Whether  there  is  more  than  one  species 
of  green  aphis  which  attacks  the  violet  is  not 
known.  They  can  be  found  nearly  always,  and 
it  requires  only  slight  neglect  for  them  to  soon 
become  exceedingly  troublesome.  The  green 
aphis,  with  which  every  grower  is  generally 
familiar,  attacks  both  leaves  and  flowers,  but  it  is 
particularly  the  latter  that  are  likely  to  show  the 
most  serious  effects  of  the  pest.  Ordinarily,  when 
the  leaves  are  infested  the  aphis  is  first  found  on 
leaves  which  have  begun  to  fade.  The  yellow 
leaves  harbor  the  insect,  but  it  soon  gains  sufficient 
strength,  if  neglected,  to  spread  to  perfectly 
healthy  leaves  and  from  them  to  the  flowers.  In 


APHIDES.  199 

watching  plants,  for  the  green  aphis,  therefore, 
it  is  always  best  to  keep  a  close  eye  on  the  yellow- 
ish leaves  as  they  are  picked  off.  If  the  green  fly 
is  found  upon  them  immediate  steps  must  be  taken 
to  check  it  before  it  has  increased  sufficiently  to 
spread  to  other  parts  of  the  plant. 

When  the  fresh  and  growing  leaves  become 
infested,  and  when  it  spreads  to  the  flowers  and 
young  buds,  the  matter  becomes  serious  and  heroic 
efforts  will  be  required  to  get  rid  of  the  pest.  It 
is  when  the  insect  turns  its  attention  to  the  flower 
buds  and  flowers  that  the  most  serious  trouble 
results.  The  aphis  crawls  into  the  very  young 
buds  and  through  its  punctures  and  the  suck- 
ing of  the  juice  the  flower  is  very  much  dis- 
torted and  is  made  practically  worthless.  Two 
or  three  of  these  insects  in  a  bud  will  so  in- 
jure it  that  the  flower  will  be  valueless.  When 
they  occur  in  great  numbers  and  the  buds  and 
flowers  are  badly  infested  the  former  have  a 
speckled  or  spotted  appearance  quite  unlike  what 
they  should  be.  Instead  of  the  beautiful  mauve 
color,  the  petals  have  whitish  blotches  scattered 
over  them,  and  this  detracts  greatly  from  their 
appearance  and  makes  them  practically  worthless 
so  far  as  selling  is  concerned. 

Five  or  six  years  ago  the  brown  aphis  began 
to  attract  attention  among  violet  growers.  This 
insect  is  reddish  brown  in  color  and  resembles 
somewhat  the  one  which  attacks  the  chrysanthe- 


200  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

mum.  We  first  observed  the  insect  three  or  four 
years  ago  on  some  plants  obtained  from  Massachu- 
setts. Soon  after  this  we  saw  it  in  other  localities, 
and  now  it  seems  to  be  pretty  generally  distri- 
buted throughout  the  violet  growing  regions  of 
the  East.  This  aphis  seems  to  be  a  new  form — at 
least  no  record  can  be  found  of  anything  like  it 
attacking  violets  in  this  or  other  countries.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  the  effects  of  the  insect  are  serious. 
In  fact  it  is  a  more  formidable  foe  than  the  green 
one.  Instead  of  attacking  the  older  and  more 
resistant  leaves,  the  brown  aphis  as  a  rule  will  be 
found  on  the  most  tender  growth  just  as  it  unfolds 
from  the  crown.  In  consequence  of  this  habit  of 
the  insect  the  plants  are  severely  crippled.  The 
young  leaves  are  attacked  as  fast  as  they  appear, 
and  the  plants  in  consequence  are  so  thoroughly 
checked  and  stunted  that  little  or  no  growth  takes 
place.  It  will  be  found  at  all  seasons  of  the  year, 
but  is  particularly  active  through  the  growing 
season,  that  is,  from  about  the  middle  of  May 
until  the  middle  of  October.  It  seems  to  be  more 
troublesome  in  houses  than  in  the  open  air  or  in 
frames,  but  this  may  be  accounted  for  perhaps  by 
the  fact  that  the  insect  is  less  liable  to  the  attacks 
of  natural  enemies  under  glass  and  has  a  better 
opportunity,  therefore,  of  propagating  itself. 
Like  the  green  aphis,  it  also  attacks  the  flowers, 
but  seems  to  prefer  the  foliage,  and  as  a  rule  is 
confined  to  it.  Both  the  green  and  the  brown 


APHIDES.  201 


aphis  are  more  or  less  injured  by  cold,  but  still  they 
cannot  be  entirely  killed  by  freezing,  as  we  have 
reason  to  know  from  experience  in  growing  plants 
in  frames,  where  the  temperature  fell  as  low  as 
six  or  eight  degrees  below  zero.  In  such  cases 
many  aphides  were  destroyed,  but  enough  sur- 
vived to  start  a  new  brood  as  soon  as  the  weather 
became  favorable. 

The  almost  universal  remedy  against  aphides 
under  glass  has,  up  to  the  past  few  years,  been 
tobacco.  Fumigation  has  been  the  principal 
method  followed,  the  ordinary  tobacco  stems 
being  used  for  the  purpose.  Probably  in  some 
sections  fumigation  with  tobacco  will  continue  to 
be  used,  as  it  is  undoubtedly  the  simplest  and 
cheapest  method  of  combating  these  pests. 

We  have  already  pointed  out,  however,  the 
serious  objections  to  the  continued  use  of  tobacco. 
This  is  especially  the  case  in  certain  regions  where 
the  use  of  tobacco  is  more  apt  to  bring  on 
spot  than  in  other  sections.  Where  it  is  necessary 
to  use  tobacco,  great  care  must  be  exercised,  and 
the  grower  should  never  wait  until  the  insects 
have  accumulated  in  numbers,  otherwise  the 
smoke  will  have  to  be  made  so  strong  that  injury 
to  the  plant  in  one  form  or  another  is  sure  to  fol- 
low. Light  fumigations,  given  at  regular  inter- 
vals, will  probably  hold  both  kinds  of  aphides  in 
check,  but  aside  from  the  objections  already 
mentioned  there  are  others  of  a  serious  nature 


202  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

which  must  also  be  considered  where  tobacco  is 
used.  As  everyone  knows,  the  odor  is  exception- 
ably  disagreeable  and  undesirable.  This  is  par- 
ticularly the  case  in  violets,  which  readily  take  up 
many  foreign  odors  and  never  fully  recover  from 
the  effects.  It  is  therefore  found  undesirable  to 
pick  violets  in  a  house  which  has  been  recently 
fumigated  with  tobacco.  In  fact  at  least  a  week 
should  elapse  after  fumigation  before  any  picking 
is  done.  These  reasons,  together  with  others 
which  have  been  given,  have  prompted  us  to 
practically  abandon  the  use  of  tobacco  in  every 
form  for  aphides  and  insects  of  this  nature. 

A  good  deal  has  been  written  about  the  use 
of  hydrocyanic  acid  gas  for  this  work.  This  has 
been  used  for  a  number  of  years  in  fumigating 
plants  in  the  open  air,  but  it  is  only  recently  that 
it  has  come  into  general  use  for  greenhouse  pur- 
poses. Through  the  efforts  of  Messrs.  Albert  F. 
Woods  and  P.  H.  Dorsett,  who  have  been  associ- 
ated with  the  writer  in  work  on  plants  under  glass, 
experiments  were  inaugurated  several  years  ago 
to  test  the  value  of  this  gas  in  the  greenhouse. 
At  this  time  we  were  having  serious  difficulty 
with  our  violets  from  the  attacks  of  aphides,  and 
it  was  a  question  as  to  whether  it  would  not  be 
necessary  to  either  give  up  growing  the  crop  or 
adopt  some  method  of  getting  rid  of  the  pest 
other  than  those  usually  followed.  After  many 
experiments  it  was  found  that  the  gas  could  be 


FUMIGATION    WITH    CYANIDE    GAS.  203 

used  with  perfect  safety  for  fumigating  violets. 
Moreover,  the  flowers  a  few  hours  after  the  gas 
had  been  used  were  perfectly  sweet  and  showed 
no  effects  whatever  from  the  action  of  the  gas. 
From  time  to  time  various  changes  were  made  as 
to  the  methods  of  application,  until  finally  the 
practice  has  developed  into  a  comparatively  simple 
operation,  which  may  be  described  as  follows: 

In  all  cases  where  fumigation  with  this  gas 
is  to  be  followed  it  is  necessary  to  first  determine 
accurately  the  cubic  contents  of  each  house. 
The  determination  of  the  cubic  contents  of  the 
house  while  in  itself  a  comparatively  simple 
problem,  has,  in  the  eyes  of  many  growers,  diffi- 
culties which  they  are  not  willing  to  undertake. 
The  cubic  contents  can  be  determined  by  a  com- 
paratively simple  mathematical  calculation,  but 
perhaps  the  easiest  way  is  by  a  method  recently 
described  by  the  writer  in  the  Florists'  Exchange  * 
This  method  involves  nothing  more  difficult  than 
the  mere  counting  of  a  number  of  squares,  and 
from  an  examination  of  the  accompanying  illus- 
tration the  simplicity  of  the  method  will  become 
apparent.  Procure  from  a  stationery  store  or  art 
supply  store  some  cross-section  paper,  such  as 
represented  in  the  figure.  In  this  particular  case 
squares  of  three  sizes  are  shown,  the  largest  being 
one-half  inch,  the  next  one-fourth  inch,  and  the 
smallest  one-sixteenth  inch  square.  The  one- 

*Florists'    Exchange,  Vol.  II,  No.  5. 


204 


DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES 


FUMIGATION    WITH    CYANIDE    GAS.  205 

fourth  inch  squares  may  represent  feet.  Now 
determine  the  dimensions  of  the  house,  that  is, 
the  length,  width,  height  to  ridge,  and  height 
on  sides,  and  make  a  sketch  as  shown,  each 
square,  or  one-fourth  inch,  representing  one  square 
foot.  This  particular  house,  it  will  be  seen,  is 
eighteen  feet  (eighteen  squares)  wide,  twelve 
feet  to  the  ridge,  six  and  one-half  feet  high  at 
the  back,  and  four  and  one-half  feet  high  in 
front.  The  ridge  stands  five  feet  from  the 
back  wall,  as  shown  in  the  sketch.  After  the 
lines  are  drawn,  simply  count  the  squares  in- 
closed, and  the  number  of  squares  will  be  the 
number  of  square  feet.  The  parts  of  squares, 
that  is,  where  a  line  divides  a  square,  can  be 
easily  determined  by  counting  the  smallest  squares 
or  by  the  eye,  and  by  adding  these  fractions 
of  squares  together  the  number  of  whole  squares 
may  be  readily  found.  After  the  number  of 
square  feet  is  obtained  it  is  only  necessary  to 
multiply  this  by  the  length  of  the  house  in  feet 
and  the  result  will  be  the  cubic  contents.  For 
example,  supposing  the  house  in  question  is  one 
hundred  feet  long,  it  contains  one  hundred  and 
fifty  and  one-half  squares,  or  square  feet,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  and  one-half  multiplied  by  one 
hundred  equals  15,050  cubic  feet.  The  whole 
operation  requires  less  time  than  it  takes  to 
describe  it  and  will  apply  of  course  to  a  house  of 
any  shape  or  size.  It  may  be  added  that  if  the 


2O6  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

cross-section  paper  cannot  be  obtained  readily 
the  sections  or  squares  can  be  laid  off  with  a 
rule  and  lead  pencil  and  practically  the  same 
results  obtained.  In  any  event,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  get  an  accurate  outline  drawing  of  the 
section  of  the  house  and  by  projecting  this  over 
squares  as  indicated  the  number  of  square  feet  in 
the  section  can  be  readily  determined. 

The  gas  is  made  by  combining  potassium 
cyanide  (ninety-eight  per  cent  pure)  and  commer- 
cial sulphuric  acid.  It  has  been  found  by  experi- 
ment that  for  violets  0.15  of  a  gram  (one  gram 
equal  fifteen  and  a  half  grains  avoirdupois)  of 
ninety-eight  per  cent  cyanide  of  potassium  will  be 
required  for  each  cubic  foot  of  space  in  the  house, 
and  from  these  data  it  is  easy  to  figure  out  the 
exact  amount  of  cyanide  of  potassium  wanted  for 
a  given  amount  of  greenhouse  room.  When  the 
cubic  contents  have  been  determined  and  0.15  of 
a  gram  of  the  cyanide  of  potassium  has  been 
weighed  out  for  each  cubic  foot,  the  next  step  is 
to  crush  all  the  large  lumps  and  place  the  cyanide 
in  paper  bags  so  as  to  have  it  ready  for  use 
in  the  house.  We  usually  use  two  bags,  one 
within  the  other,  for  the  purpose,  in  order  to 
insure  perfect  safety.  For  a  house  one  hundred 
feet  long  and  twelve  feet  wide  there  should 
be  provided  two  ordinary  earthenware  jars,  each 
holding  about  two  gallons.  These  jars  should 
be  placed  in  the  walk,  about  equal  distances  apart 


FUMIGATION    WITH    CYANIDE    GAS.  207 

and  equal  distances  from  each  end  of  the  house. 
As  soon  as  the  proper  quantities  have  been  put  in 
the  bags,  the  latter  are  taken  to  the  jars  and  then 
a  string  is  arranged  so  that  each  jar  will  have 
suspended  directly  over  it  one  of  the  bags  con- 
taining the  cyanide.  The  end  of  the  string  is 
then  run  out  to  the  door  and  can  be  easily  tied  so 
as  to  hold  the  bags  in  position  just  above  the  jars. 
The  string  can  be  easily  run  through  screw  eyes 
fastened  to  the  sash  bars  or  by  some  other  method 
which  will  readily  suggest  itself  to  the  operator. 
Everything  being  in  readiness  pour  enough  cold 
water  into  the  jars  to  about  cover  the  amount  of 
potash  in  the  bags.  As  soon  as  the  water  is 
poured  in  bring  the  acid  forward  and  slowly  add 
this  to  the  water  until  steam  begins  to 
rise.  When  the  steam  commences  to  show  stop 
pouring  in  the  acid  and  arrange  the  next  jar  in 
the  same  way.  While  doing  this  it  is  best  to 
have  the  bags  of  cyanide  rest  on  the  ground.  The 
water  and  acid  now  being  ready  readjust  the  bags 
in  their  proper  places  so  that  they  will  drop 
directly  into  the  jars  when  the  string  holding  them 
is  loosened.  The  operator  now  goes  to  the  door 
and  by  taking  hold  of  the  string  allows  the  bags 
to  drop  directly  into  the  jars.  The  door  is  then 
closed  and  in  about  a  minute  (sometimes  less) 
the  violent  action  of  the  chemical  changes  can  be 
heard.  No  attempt  whatever  must  be 
made  to  enter  the  houses  at  this  time, 


208  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

for  by  doing-  so  death  would  unques- 
tionably result  in  a  few  seconds.  Pre- 
vious to  setting  off  the  gas  all  the  ventilators  must 
be  put  down,  and  if  the  house  is  loose  it  is  well  to 
sprinkle  the  roof  with  water.  Arrangements 
must  be  made,  however,  for  opening  some  of  the 
ventilators  from  the  outside.  From  the 
time  the  gas  begins  to  generate  it  should  be 
allowed  to  remain  twenty  minutes  in  the  house 
and  then  the  doors  and  ventilators  should  be 
opened  from  the  outside  and  air  freely  ad- 
mitted. When  opening  the  ventilators  from  the 
outside  take  care  not  to  breathe  the  gas.  The 
house  should  not  be  entered  under  any  circum- 
stances for  half  an  hour,  for  it  will  take  at  least 
that  time  for  the  fumes  to  be  driven  out. 

Unless  the  aphides  are  very  abundant  it  will  not 
be  necessary  to  use  the  gas  more  than  once  a  month 
during  the  growing  season.  However,  the  fumi- 
gation should  not  be  done  at  regular  periods,  but 
should  be  carried  on  whenever  there  is  sufficient 
evidence  that  aphides  are  increasing  in  undesira- 
ble numbers.  This  treatment  never  fails  to  do 
the  work  when  proper  care  is  taken,  and  there  is 
no  injury  whatever  to  foliage  or  flowers. 

Cut  Worms.  The  leaves  of  violets  are  some- 
times attacked  and  injured  by  cut  worms.  This 
is  especially  the  case  in  late  spring  after  the  new 
plants  have  been  put  out.  The  cut  worms,  as  a 
rule,  are  more  troublesome  in  houses  where  sash 


CUT    WORMS.  209 

are  removed  or  where  the  sides  are  open.  There 
appear  to  be  several  species  of  these  insects,  and 
as  the  worms  are  voracious  eaters,  they  can  in 
a  short  time  do  considerable  damage  to  small 
plants.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  young  plants 
having  only  six  or  eight  good  leaves,  completely 
cut  down  by  these  pests.  Sometimes  the  worms 
instead  of  cutting  off  the  leaves  will  cut  off  the 
stems,  and  of  course  in  such  cases  the  plant  is 
ruined.  The  worms  appear  to  be  the  same  kind 
as  those  which  feed  upon  grasses.  In  fact  where 
grass  is  allowed  to  grow  around  the  houses  and  in 
the  beds,  the  insects  are,  as  a  rule,  much  more 
apt  to  be  troublesome.  The  worms  are  often 
found  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length,  and  it  is 
seldom  that  they  can  be  seen  on  the  plants  in 
the  day  time,  unless  in  cloudy  weather  or  in  dark 
places. 

About  all  that  can  be  done  in  the  way  of 
holding  this  pest  in  check  is  to  watch  the  plants 
carefully,  and  at  the  first  evidence  of  injury  to 
search  for  the  worms  and  detroy  them.  As  a  rule, 
if  the  worms  are  not  found  on  the  plant,  they  will 
be  discovered  just  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
ground  near  the  stem.  By  digging  in  the  soil 
around  the  plants,  the  insect  can  be  brought  from 
its  hiding  place  and  destroyed.  In  closed  houses, 
where  fumigation  is  practiced,  the  cut  worms  are 
of  course  destroyed,  but  in  the  field  and  in  frames 
the  collection  and  destruction  of  the  pest,  as 


210  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

already  stated,  is  about  all  that  can  be  recom- 
mended. The  fact  that  these  worms  live  upon 
grasses  shows  the  importance  of  keeping  the  beds 
perfectly  clean,  and  also  the  importance  of  keeping 
the  ground  perfectly  clean  of  grass  for  a  consider- 
able distance  around  the  frames  or  the  beds  if  the 
latter  are  made  in  the  field.  So  far  as  our  observa- 
tions go,  the  moth,  which  deposits  the  eggs  from 
which  the  cut  worms  are  hatched,  seldom  if  ever 
selects  the  violet.  The  eggs  are  more  likely  to  be 
deposited  on  grasses  and  other  plants,  and  from 
these  the  worms  reach  the  violet.  It  frequently 
happens  that  growers  are  neglectful  about  keep- 
ing old  beds  and  the  corners  of  houses  free  from 
weeds  and  grass.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  allow 
grass  and  weeds  to  grow  up  behind  the  beds  in 
some  cases,  and  it  is  just  such  places  that  harbor 
worms.  Rigid  attention  should  therefore  be  given 
to  cleanliness,  which  is  as  important  in  this  case 
as  in  any  others  mentioned. 

Sawfly*  The  leaves  of  violets  during  the 
growing  season,  that  is,  from  June  to  September, 
are  sometimes  injured  by  a  small  caterpillar-like 
worm,  which  has  been  determined  by  the  Ento- 
mologist of  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  to  be  the  larva  of  a  species  of  saw- 
fly.  This  insect  sometimes  does  considerable 
damage  by  cutting  the  leaves,  giving  the  whole 
plant  a  ragged  appearance.  The  larva  of  the 
sawflv  seems  to  prefer  cool,  shady  places,  and,  as 


GALL    FLY    MAGGOTS.  21  T 

a  rule,  is  found  near  the  sides  of  the  house  or  in 
the  shade  of  the  gutters.  Picking  and  destroying 
the  insects  is  the  only  satisfactory  means  of  get- 
ting rid  of  them,  except  where  fumigation  with 
the  cyanide  gas  is  practiced.  In  such  cases  this 
insect,  together  with  many  other  kinds,  will  be 
effectually  destroyed.  It  sometimes  happens  that 
the  eggs  fro.m  which  the  sawfly  larva  are  hatched 
are  deposited  on  the  young  plants  while  they  are 
still  in  flats  or  before  they  have  been  transplanted 
to  permanent  beds.  It  will  often  be  found  advan- 
tageous in  such  cases  to  apply  some  material  that 
will  destroy  the  eggs  and  young  larvae  before  the 
plants  are  set  where  they  are  to  stand.  For  this 
purpose  there  is  nothing  better  than  the  ivory 
soap  solution,  the  same  as  recommended  for  red 
spider.  It  can  be  applied  with  a  hand  spraying 
pump,  or  the  solution  can  be  made  up  and  kept  in 
an  ordinary  water  pail,  and  the  plants  as  taken  up 
can  have  their  stems  and  leaves  dipped.  This, 
however,  is  not  as  satisfactory  as  spraying,  and  is 
resorted  to  usually  only  where  cuttings  are  lifted 
directly  from  sand  and  there  is  no  soil  adhering. 

Gall  Fly  Maggots.  We  have  never  had  any 
difficulty  with  this  pest,  but  in  some  sections  of 
the  country  it  has  occasioned  serious  damage. 
The  maggot  is  very  small  and  is  yellowish  white 
in  color.  It  is  found,  as  a  rule,  in  the  youngest 
leaves  as  they  push  out  from  the  crown  of  the 
plant.  The  affected  leaves  as  they  come  out  are 


212  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 


GALL    FLY    MAGGOTS.  213 

badly  curled  and  the  maggots  are  found  only 
where  the  leaf  is  curled.  The  maggots  are  so 
abundant  that  all  the  leaves  become  curled  in 
this  way,  and  as  a  result  the  whole  plant  is 
seriously  stunted. 

The  effects  of  the  maggots  are  to  seriously 
dwarf  the  growth  of  the  plants  and  to  practically 
stop  the  development  of  the  flower  buds.  In 
many  cases  where  the  affected  leaves  are  pulled  off, 
the  side  crowns  will  start,  but  they  soon  become 
infested  with  the  maggot.  The  maggot  is  the 
larva  of  a  small  gall  fly.  which  looks  like  a  minia- 
ture wasp.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  maggots 
in  the  soil,  and  from  the  latter  they  seem  to  be 
able  to  reach  the  young  leaves  in  some  way. 
Whether  they  pass  from  the  leaves  to  the  soil  and 
there  attain  the  adult  state  we  are  not  able  to  say, 
and  so  far  as  we  know,  this  point  has  not  been 
determined.  Our  observations  lead  us  to  believe 
that  the  pest  is  much  more  apt  to  occur  in  localities 
where  proper  attention  has  not  been  paid  to  mix- 
ing the  soil  and  to  drainage  On  low,  heavy,  wet 
ground  the  pest  is  much  more  apt  to  be  injurious 
than  where  good  soil  is  at  hand  and  where  drain- 
age is  perfect.  Certain  kinds  of  manures  seem 
to  favor  the  development  of  the  maggot.  Whether 
it  is  capable  of  living  in  the  manure,  or  on  plants 
alone  has  not  been  determined,  so  far  as  we  are 
aware.  It  seems  to  be  a  fact,  however,  that  where 
manure  is  not  clean,  that  is,  where  it  is  mixed 


214  DISEASES    AND    INSECT    ENEMIES. 

with  refuse  in  the  shape  of  garbage  and   other 
material,  the  pest  is  apt  to  breed. 

There  is  no  satisfactory  remedy  for  this  mag- 
got when  once  it  has  infested  a  house.  We  cannot 
speak  as  to  the  effect  of  cyanide  gas  upon  it,  for,  so 
far  as  we  know,  this  remedy  has  not  been  tried. 
It  is  not  practicable  to  pick  the  leaves,  because  in 
such  cases  the  crowns  are  permanently  injured 
and  the  flowering  is,  therefore,  either  entirely 


•w  — 


61—Larvze  and  moths  of  Phlyct&nia  ferrugalis. 

stopped  or  checked.  Air-slacked  lime  thrown 
into  the  crowns  will  be  found  beneficial.  It  should 
be  thrown  into  the  plant  with  considerable  force 
and  plenty  should  be  allowed  to  reach  the  soil. 
Following  this  practice  and  giving  the  best  cul- 
tural conditions  possible,  such  as  allowing  plenty 
of  air  and  stirring  the  soil,  is  about  all  that  can  be 
suggested  in  the  line  of  treatment. 

Phlyctaenia    ferrugalis.        Violet    plants    are 


PHLYCT^ENIA    FERRUGALIS.  215 

sometimes  attacked  during  midsummer  by  the 
larva  of  a  small  moth.  The  insect  has  been 
identified  for  us  by  the  Entomologist  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  under 
the  above  name.  The  larvae  attack  the  leaves, 
destroying  the  softer  parts  and  leaving  only 
the  skeleton  or  framework  of  the  tissues.  The 
illustration  does  not  show  this  plainly,  as  the 
camera  does  not  distinguish  the  colors  sufficiently. 
Plants  grown  in  shady  places  are  usually  most 
liable  to  attack.  Generally  the  worms  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  light  web,  and  occasionally  two  leaves 
are  fastened  together  in  order  to  give  them  pro- 
tection. The  insect  never  produces  serious  injury, 
but  is  is  well  to  watch  for  it  and  take  such  steps 
to  destroy  it  as  may  be  practicable.  It  may  be 
destroyed  by  picking  the  leaves  containing  the 
larvae,  but  by  far  the  best  method  is  fumigation 
with  cyanide  gas.  Where  this  gas  is  used  for 
other  pests  the  insect  in  question  is  easily  kept  in 
check. 


•210  COST    AND    PROFITS. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


COST  OF   PRODUCTION  AND  PROFITS. 

In  a  matter  of  this  kind  it  is  difficult  to  give 
anything  but  approximate  figures.  Location, 
proximity  to  market,  ability  to  get  fuel,  soil,  and 
manure,  the  cost  of  labor,  etc.,  are  all  factors 
that  play  an  important  part  in  making  an  estimate 
as  to  the  actual  cost  of  producing  the  crop.  In 
making  an  estimate  it  will  be  necessary  to  take 
into  consideration  the  value  of  the  ground,  the 
cost  of  houses,  and  in  fact  everything  connected 
with  the  work,  just  as  a  commercial  man  would 
consider  all  phases  of  his  business  in  any  effort  at 
determining  profit  and  loss.  It  will  be  best  to 
make  the  estimates  on  a  definite  number  of  plants, 
as  it  is  easier  to  figure  from  this  standpoint,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  cost  of  production  will 
be  relatively  less  for  ten  thousand  plants  than  it 
is  for  five  thousand.  The  same  will  hold  true  as 
we  decrease  the  number  of  plants — that  is,  five 
thousand  can  be  grown  at  relatively  less  cost  than 
one  thousand.  There  are  a  number  of  reasons 
for  this,  chief  of  which  is  the  fact  that  the  more 
plants  there  are  the  more  possible  it  is  for  the 
.grower  to  so  arrange  all  of  his  operations  as  not  to 


COST    OF    PRODUCTION  217 

have  a  loss  of  material  or  time.  For  instance, 
it  costs  less  relatively  to  heat  houses  holding  ten 
thousand  plants  than  it  does  to  neat  houses  hold- 
ing five  thousand.  The  same  will  hold  true  for 
labor,  for  soil,  for  fertilizers,  and  in  fact  for  all 
matters  connected  with  the  work. 

Under  ordinary  conditions,  such  as  we  find  in 
the  vicinity  of  many  of  our  large  cities,  we  may 
place  the  cost  of  ground  and  houses  sufficient  for 
ten  thousand  plants  at  three  thousand  dollars.  In 
some  respects  this  is  an  over-estimate,  but  it  is 
based  on  the  fact  that  ground  used  for  this  pur- 
pose is  worth  not  less  than  five  to  seven  hundred 
dollars  an  acre  and  that  the  houses  are  of  the 
same  kind  as  those  we  have  already  described. 
We  have  therefore  to  estimate  as  one  of  the  items 
of  the  cost  of  production  the  interest  on  the 
money  invested  in  houses,  ground,  and  other 
fixtures  connected  with  the  work.  We  may  put 
this  as  a  total  at  three  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars,  so  that  the  interest  at  six  per  cent  would 
be  two  hundred  and  ten  dollars.  There  is  also 
to  be  considered  the  question  of  wear  and  tear  on 
the  houses  and  other  materials  used  in  connection 
with  growing  the  plants.  This  may  be  placed  at 
not  less  than  eight  per  cent  a  year.  In  other 
words,  renovating  walks,  replacing  broken  glass, 
painting,  and  other  necessary  repairs  will  cost 
not  less  than  two  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  a 
year. 


2l8  COST    AND    PROFITS. 

The  cost  of  fuel  will  of  course  vary  widely, 
but  under  ordinary  conditions,  that  is,  in  regions 
where  the  temperature  seldom  goes  lower  than 
twelve  degrees  below  zero  for  any  length  of  time, 
the  amount  of  fuel  necessary  to  heat  houses  hold- 
ing ten  thousand  plants  will  probably  not  exceed 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars. 

The  cost  of  labor,  not  including  that  of  the 
grower  himself,  which  is  not  estimated  here, 
should  not  exceed  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
per  year.  In  other  words  the  grower  himself 
with  the  assistance  of  one  good  man  can  easily 
handle  ten  thousand  plants.  It  may  be  necessary 
to  make  some  allowance  for  the  busy  season, 
when  possibly  an  extra  man  would  have  to  be 
taken  on  for  a  month.  With  the  grower  under- 
standing his  business  it  is  not  necessary  to  have 
an  expert  as  an  assistant.  An  ordinary  laborer, 
provided  he  is  quick,  active,  and  willing  to  work, 
will  answer  every  purpose.  Such  help  can  be 
obtained  for  twenty-five  to  thirty  dollars  per 
month.  Labor,  therefore,  we  estimate  at  three 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  year.  For  inci- 
dentals, including  express  charges  and  various 
minor  matters,  we  estimate  one  hundred  dollars. 
These  figures  will  vary,  of  course,  in  different 
localities  but  are,  we  believe,  a  fair  average. 

Summarized,  the  total  outlay  for  ten  thousand 
plants  per  year  is  as  follows  : 


COST    OF    PRODUCTION.  219 

Interest  on  money  invested  in  ground,  houses,  etc $210 

Repairs 280 

Fuel 125 

Labor 350 

Incidentals..... 100 

Total, $1,065 

The  total  output  of  money  per  year,  there- 
fore, in  growing  ten  thousand  plants  is  estimated 
at  one  thousand  and  sixty-five  dollars.  This 
is  an  expenditure  of  practically  ten  cents  per 
plant,  so  that  the  actual  cost  of  maintaining 
and  growing  each  plant,  basing  the  estimate 
on  ten  thousand  plants,  is  practically  ten  cents. 
We  have  given  what  in  our  judgment  is  a  fair 
average,  but  of  course  these  figures  can  be  re- 
duced by  rigid  attention  to  details  and  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  all  the  points  necessarily 
connected  with  the  work.  If  the  owner  is  willing 
to  take  a  hand  and  to  attend  largely  to  the  firing 
and  look  after  the  watering  and  ventilation,  the 
cost  will  be  materially  decreased.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  delegates  this  work  to  others  he  must 
necessarily  pay  for  it,  and  in  consequence  the  cost 
of  production  will  be  increased. 

Turning  our  attention  now  to  the  other  phase 
of  the  question,  namely,  the  profits,  we  are  con- 
fronted at  the  outset  with  the  same  difficulties  as 
mentioned  in  the  first  instance — that  is,  the  profits 
will  depend  in  large  measure  on  the  market,  on 
the  ability  of  the  man  to  properly  handle  his  crop, 
and  above  all  on  the  quality  of  the  product. 


220  COST    AND    PROFITS. 

It  must  be  understood  that  at  first  the  grower 
will  have  to  be  content  with  relatively  low  prices, 
for  the  reason  that  he  has  yet  to  make  a  reputation, 
and  until  this  is  accomplished  he  may  not  hope  to 
command  from  the  market  the  highest  returns. 
There  is  always  an  opening  for  good  stock,  but,  as 
we  have  pointed  out  elsewhere,  it  is  not  only 
necessary  to  have  the  stock  good,  but  it  is  of  the 
highest  importance  that  it  should  be  so  handled 
and  so  put  on  the  market  as  to  create  a  demand 
for  it.  As  soon  as  the  demand  is  created  it  is  not 
so  difficult  to  increase  prices. 

As  to  the  yield  of  flowers  per  plant,  this  will 
depend  altogether  on  the  knowledge  of  the  grower. 
Ordinarily  fifty  flowers  per  plant  is  considered 
a  good  average,  but  there  is  no  reason  why  this 
average  should  not  be  increased  to  seventy-five  or 
even  one  hundred.  The  grower  should  not 
be  content  with  less  than  one  hundred 
salable  flowers  per  plant,  and  his  aim 
and  effort  should  be  to  succeed  in  mak- 
ing every  plant  average  this  number. 
On  the  basis  of  fifty  flowers  per  plant,  however, 
the  total  yield  from  ten  thousand  plants  would  be 
five  hundred  thousand  flowers.  If  the  yield  be 
increased  to  one  hundred  flowers  per  plant  the 
total  number  of  flowers  is  of  course  doubled. 
Now  this  doubling  of  the  total  number  of  flowers 
does  not  mean  the  doubling  of  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction at  all.  In  fact  the  cost  of  producing 


PRICES    FOR    FLOWERS.  221 

one  hundred  flowers  per  plant  is  relatively  little 
more  than  producing  fifty.  The  main  addi- 
tional item  of  cost  to  be  considered  is  that  con- 
nected with  the  handling  of  the  crop,  which  is  a 
relatively  small  amount.  Let  us  assume,  how- 
ever, that  the  grower  averages  fifty  flowers  per 
plant,  and  that  he  is  so  situated  that  the  best 
prices  he  is  able  to  command  will  not  average 
over  sixty  cents  per  hundred  for  the  season.  This 
will  mean  that  he  receives  approximately  the 
following  prices: 

October  flowers $0.50  per  hundred 

November  flowers 0.50  per  hundred 

December  flowers i.oo  per  hundred 

January  flowers 0.75  per  hundred 

February  flowers 0.50  per  hundred 

March  flowers 0.50  per  hundred 

April  flowers 0.50  per  hundred 

Average 0.60  per  hundred 

The  seven  months,  as  already  indicated,  will 
give  him  an  average  of  sixty  cents,  providing  his 
plants  yield  as  they  ordinarily  do — that  is,  a  heavy 
flowering  in  November,  March,  and  April,  with 
lighter  crops  during  the  other  months.  If  he  can 
by  a  proper  handling  of  his  plants  and  by  proper 
selection  so  change  the  flowering  period  as  to  get 
the  heaviest  yields  during  the  months  of  Decem- 
ber, January,  and  February,  he  can,  as  will 
readily  be  seen,  increase  his  average,  because  the 
flowers  will  be  worth  more  at  this  time.  In  other 
words,  it  is  far  better  to  get  fifty  thousand  flowers 


222  COST    AND    PROFITS. 

in  December  and  twenty-five  thousand  in  March 
than  to  get  twenty-five  thousand  in  December  and 
fifty  thousand  in  March. 

It  is  entirely  within  the  range  of  possibility  to 
so  grow  the  crop  as  to  materially  increase  the 
number  of  flowers  during  the  regular  winter 
months.  The  average  of  sixty  cents  is  com- 
paratively low  and  should  not  be  considered  as 
the  limit  by  any  means.  With  a  reputation  estab- 
lished for  growing  good  flowers,  and  for  putting 
them  in  the  market  in  a  fresh  state  and  always  in 
excellent  condition,  the  range  of  prices  can  be 
materially  increased.  A  good  grower  should  not 
be  content  unless  he  can  average  the  following: 

October  flowers So. 50  per  hundred 

November  flowers 0.75  per  hundred 

December  flowers 1.50  per  hundred 

January  flowers 2.00  per  hundred 

February  flowers 0.75  per  hundred 

March  flowers 0.50  per  hundred 

April  flowers 0.50  per  hundred 

Average 0.90  per  hundred 

This  gives  an  average  for  the  seven  months  of 
practically  ninety  cents,  or  an  advance  over  the 
first  figures  of  thirty  cents  per  hundred.  It  is 
figures  of  this  kind  that  show  the  possibilities 
within  the  reach  of  the  intelligent  grower.  There 
is  no  reason  why  his  flowers  should  not  average 
him  90  cents,  and  furthermore  there  is  no  reason 
why  each  plant  should  not  be  grown  so  as  to 
yield  an  average  of  one  hundred  flowers  per  plant. 


NET    PROFITS.  223 

As  an  example  of  what  may  be  accomplished  we 
give  the  yields  for  eight  months  of  fourteen 
hundred  Lady  Hume  Campbell  plants 
in  one  of  our  houses  and  the  prices,  as  follows : 

October,     1897,      8,000  flowers So. 50  per  hundred 

November,  1897,    11,950  flowers 0.75  per  hundred 

December,  1897,    12,000  flowers i.oo  per  hundred 

January,     1898,    11,830  flowers 1.25  per  hundred 

February,  1898,    17, 250  flowers 0.75  per  hundred 

March,       1898,    23,900  flowers 0.75  per  hundred 

April,          1898,    23,850  flowers 0.50  per  hundred 

May,  1898,      3, 800  flowers 0.50  per  hundred 

Total 112,580       Average $0.75  per  hundred 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  house,  containing 
fourteen  hundred  plants,  yielded  an  average  of 
eighty  flowers  per  plant,  and  the  average  price 
received  was  seventy-five  cents  per  hundred,  so 
that  the  value  of  the  yield  of  each  plant  was  sixty 
cents. 

On  the  basis  of  an  average  of  sixty  cents  per 
hundred,  the  total  value  of  the  yield  from  ten 
thousand  plants  would  be  three  thousand  dollars, 
or  thirty  cents  per  plant.  We  have  already  seen 
that  the  cost  of  producing  such  a  plant  is  ten 
cents,  so  that  the  net  profit  is  twenty  cents  per 
plant,  or  two  thousand  dollars  for  the  establish- 
ment. On  the  other  hand,  if  the  average  price 
obtained  were  ninety  cents  per  hundred  flowers, 
the  net  profit  would  be  thirty-five  cents  per 
plant,  or  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for 
the  establishment.  Again,  if  the  average  yield  is 


224  COST    AND    PROFITS. 

increased,  as  it  should  be,  to  seventy  five  or  one 
hundred  flowers  per  plant,  the  profits  will  be 
increased  approximately  sixty-four  and  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  per  cent  respectively. 

On  the  whole,  it  may  be  said  that  the  income 
from  ten  thousand  plants  grown  in  houses  and 
handled  properly  should  year  in  and  year  out 
average  five  thousand  six  hundred  dollars,  while 
the  total  expenses  should  not  exceed  one  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars.  This  means  an  average  yield 
of  seventy-five  flowers  per  plant  and  an  average 
price  of  seventy-five  cents  per  hundred  flowers. 

Violets  can  be  grown  in  frames  cheaper  than 
they  can  in  houses.  With  good  care  the  total  cost 
per  plant  will  not  exceed  five  cents,  or  ten  cents 
per  hundred  for  the  flowers,  reckoning  that  the 
average  yield  of  the  latter  is  fifty  flowers  per 
plant.  Such  flowers  ought  to  net  the  grower 
fifty  cents  per  hundred,  leaving  a  profit  over 
all  expenses  of  forty  cents  per  hundred,  or 
approximately  four  dollars  per  sash.  Finally,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  while  these  figures  are 
fair  averages,  and  are  based  on  actual  experience, 
they  cannot  be  approximated  without  strict  atten- 
tion to  every  detail. 


UNIVERSITY 
LIFO^Ji 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


LD  21A-50m-4,'59 
(A1724slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YB  46581 


